Mother
by sandydragon
Summary: Karura manages to survive Gaara's birth. Will she be able to save her family from years of misery or will her life fail to change the course of history? The fourth kazekage is referred to as Takeo. AU
1. Prologue

My husband had warned me that the demon inside of my son would probably try to kill me while my son was being born, but nothing could have prepared me for how excruciating this last birth would be. The fact that it's happening a few months a head of schedule sure isn't doing my body any favors. My insides feel as if they are being shredded apart and it's almost hard to believe I had actually allowed my husband to do this to me and our child. At least, I hope it's still our child. For all I know the demon could have killed me.

As a fresh wave of agony ripples through my body, I make myself remember that Takeo had no other choice. My husband may not be the sharpest kunai in the holster at times, but I know he put a lot of thought into this particular decision. He has nearly killed himself trying to help the village's economy with his gold dust, but even that is just slowing the downward spiral down. He may seem rather emotionless to some of the other villagers, but I know this risky move hurts him at least as much as it's hurting me right now.

I can feel myself loosing blood much more quickly now and I'm hoping against hope that my son will be born before I die. I can hear Takeo and Yashamaru panicking, but I can barely even understand what they're saying anymore. I can't stop myself from screaming with whatever oxygen is left in me as I give the last shove. After a moment of horror and fear at the possibility that the demon really did hear my son, I hear his cries. They are weak and feeble, but at least I know he made it.

As my son desperately needed oxygen to fill his tiny lungs for the first time, so too did my lungs burn with need for the life sustaining gas. My gasps are louder and hoarser than my son's breathing and I can feel myself slipping. I tell the doctors to let me see my son before it's too late. I carefully hold his frail body in my hands and pray that he will survive. He is even tinier than I had imagined and I can already see Shukaku's influence on his eyes. They are already shut in peaceful sleep. My poor baby barely had the energy to move. My poor Gaara. I can already feel my body falling into the void too. Whether it is sleep or death I can barely tell. Chiyo and the others are trying to mend my broken body, but I can tell they are worried. Shukaku rarely lets his prey live. I am more worried for my son's fate than my own life at this point. He has barely had a chance to live while I have been lucky enough to have a loving family for ages. He does not seem to bear the same opinion though. As the last bits of my consciousness fade away, I can feel Gaara gently nuzzling my hand. None of the others notice, but I do. There is no way I'm going to leave my son like this. Not if I can do anything about it.


	2. Hospital

As I slowly open my eyes, the first thing I see is Takeo slouched over in a chair next to my bed. I haven't seen him so drained since his sensei disappeared. He looks relieved after he notices I'm awake though. "How long have I been out?"

"About three days. We're lucky it wasn't longer. Chiyo thought you wouldn't make it." At this Takeo gives me a weak smile. "But I know you're too stubborn to give up that easily."

It's good to know he believed in me enough to be able to make stupid comments at a time like this. If I weren't so tired, I'd smack him. Crazy men, couldn't they try to be more comforting? It's not like he's ever had to give birth before. Then it comes to me, my kids probably thought I was dead. "What about the kids."

Takeo chuckles a bit at this. Goodness knows how anyone can laugh at leaving toddlers without their mother. "Yashamaru, Baki, and I have been taking turns keeping them busy." Another laugh escapes him. "Thank Kami it's not Chiyo taking on that job! I don't know whether I'd be more scared for the kids or her."

Gaara must be alive if he can be this happy. I manage to smile a little myself. Temari and Kankuro probably are trying to play with him right now. "So, Gaara is okay then."

Then I see it. Takeo's smile fades as quickly as it came, he looks down, and his shoulders droop. I should have known it wasn't me he was really worried about. I can already feel tears forming in my eyes. What could have possibly gone wrong? "He's alive, but just barely. He has gotten worse since you blacked out actually. He's either screaming or whimpering most of the time. Chiyo is trying to stop Shukaku from keeping this up." Takeo's biting his lip now. He already looks like he's preparing for a funeral.

"Let me see him." Takeo's head shoots up so fast it's a wonder he didn't make his neck crack.

"Are you nuts? You aren't in such good shape either. The last thing you need is more stress." His face softens a bit. "I know how you feel, but you shouldn't worry. Chiyo may be an old hag, but she's the best medic we have. You need your rest."

How in the world can this man not understand that mothers just need to be with their kids? With a grunt, I force myself into a sitting position and prepare to get up. Takeo bolts out of his chair and I can already feel the lecture forming on his lips. I guess I'll just have to beat him to it. "All I need is five minutes. That won't kill me." Takeo grimaces and pauses for a second. Then he sighs in frustration and helps me get up. He's leading me to the chamber where Gaara is being kept soon enough.

I can hear the screaming long before we reach the door. The high pitched wails pierce my heart as Takeo slowly opens the door. If I thought the noise was bad, then the rest of the horrible situation was nothing short of Hell. Chiyo and at least a dozen other medics are hastily scrambling around with charts and medical supplies. Poor Gaara is stuck in the middle of it all. He bawls his lungs out as various wires monitor his vital signs and an IV gives him all the nutrients he needs. His voice is definitely much stronger than it was before but it is much more pained too. I crouch down by his bed slowly so I can get a better look at him. I don't know how long he's been crying, but his face it already as bright red as his hair. It doesn't take long for him to start gasping for air at any rate. Exhausted and out of breath, he cautiously opens his eyes.

I can tell he didn't expect to see me. Instead of crying again, he sniffled and whimpers a little as he looks me over. I can hear Takeo gasp over my shoulder as Gaara curiously wraps his hand around my index finger. His breathing is still labored, but he seems to be calming down. I gently stroke his hand and he actually smiles a little. Or he tries to anyway. I can tell Shukaku must be giving him a rough time. It's a good thing he's a fighter. He must hate giving up as much as I do.

Takeo gently taps me on the shoulder and tells me that I really should get some rest. I reluctantly get up and begin following Takeo. We both end up turning right back around as Gaara started whimpering. I can already see a fat tear rolling down his cheek as he reaches out to me. The look in his eyes is what really worries me. I don't know if it's more fear, pain, or loneliness, but it makes me want to cry myself all the same.

Chiyo yanks Takeo over and whispers to him urgently. I don't know what they're saying, but the next thing I know Takeo is next to me again. "It seems your presence calms Gaara down quite a bit and might help get Shukaku back under control. They want you to stay with him until the seal has stabilized enough for him to leave." Looks like I won't have to leave Gaara after all!


	3. The Unexpected Visitor

I've been in the hospital with Gaara for about two weeks. Takeo has been nice enough to make sure I get enough to eat and he has also had to be in here when I need to do anything outside of Gaara's room. It seems like the seal is almost perfectly stable now, but Chiyo told me that there are a few issues that she can't fix. One is that she can't get Shukaku to leave Gaara alone. Gaara seems to be a bit less terrified of him now, but I can tell that situation won't get better until Gaara learns to control Shukaku. The second problem is that Gaara will not be able to sleep after about his third birthday. The only reason that's not affecting Gaara now is because his body needs to be able to stand the strain before Shukaku can afford to throw his full strength at him. The worst part about this is that it was caused by a huge flaw in the seal. It's not getting any worse yet, but it's not getting better. Other than that, the seal is pretty decent.

With Gaara almost ready to leave the hospital, I'm getting really anxious. Yashamaru has visited me a few times, but I haven't been able to see Temari or Kankuro. I know it's so that they won't be too scared to see their little brother like this, but I do miss them. That feeling appears to be mutual as Yashamaru brought me a card they made me two days ago. I hope they aren't missing me too badly, but it sure is good to have someone care about where I've been. Not all of the villagers are exactly keen on having a demon host around and they probably thing Shukaku corrupted me too.

Takeo tried to explain the situation to them, but, as usual, they barely listened to a word he said about Shukaku. The two ANBU members keeping watch outside the room are testimony to Takeo's anxiety. If the villagers won't accept Gaara for who he is instead of treating him like a monster, at least I'll be there to protect him. He seems so attached to me that I can't bear to think of what would have happened to him if Shukaku had killed me. He still gets upset when I leave him alone for even a few minutes. I don't even want to know how badly he'd handle his whole life without me. Sure ninjas experience a lot of loss, but that doesn't mean that they're prepared for it the moment they are born.

Gaara is sleeping my arms right now. He isn't quite so fragile anymore, but I still handle him more carefully than even the most delicate of vases. It has been nice and peaceful for over an hour now and the night is completely silent. Everyone but the two ANBUs has headed home for the night. I'm starting to feel a bit drowsy myself to be honest. Just as I begin to drift off, I hear two almost inaudible weapons being thrown outside followed by the muffled sound of two bodies hitting the floor.

I hold Gaara closely to me as the door is quietly pushed open. I can barely make out the approaching figure in the darkness, but he must be a shinobi judging from the almost feline grace of his movements. He looks to be a bit on the short side, but I know from experience that even the smallest ninjas can pack quite the punch. I gently shift Gaara to my left hand and prepare to defend us with my right. The figure is almost within range now. I don't know why he hasn't tried to use any weapons on me yet, but I'm not taking any chances.

As soon as he's within striking distance, I slam my fist into the intruder's gut and knock the air clear out of him. As I'm preparing to punch him again, he manages to gasp out, "Karura, it's me. I know you hate waiting as much as I do, but that's no reason to beat me up as soon as I get hear." I let my self relax as the figure catches his breathe.

"Sasori? Would it have killed you to give me a bit of warning before barging in here?" Sasori moves closer to me so that I can see him clearly and then gestures towards the guards. It is then I notice he's carrying a box under one arm.

"I had enough trouble hiding myself from your guards as it was. No need to let them or Takeo get any ideas." He looks down at Gaara and cracks one of his rare smiles. "It's not like you could tell him who's really that kid's father without causing him to have a heart attack. I doubt he even knows I'm alive judging from the lack of assassins I've had to deal with." He glances at his black cloak with red clouds on it for a second before drawing his attention to the box. "I did manage to sneak you this though."

Sasori opens the box for me seeing as I'm still holding Gaara. Inside is the cutest little hand made teddy bear I've ever seen. Sasori can tell I'm impressed. "I just had to make my son something special seeing as I won't get to see him often. You have no idea how many weird looks I got while I was making this, especially from the man who gave me all of the fabric I needed." For some reason he snorts in amusement at this. I have to say, Sasori making a teddy bear is a pretty odd image. But then again, he does play with 'dolls'. I wish Gaara could see his father before he goes to who-knows-where, but Sasori and I agree it's best to save that one particular moment until Gaara will be able to remember it. After he whispers a goodbye to us, Sasori leaves as quickly as he came. I hope that whatever he's been up to will let him visit again soon. It's not everyday that I get to see such a kind hearted rogue ninja.


	4. Home

It hasn't been too long since Sasori visited, but things have been improving quite a bit. Now that Gaara's body has finished adapting to Shukaku, I get to take him home with me today. When Takeo told his nurses about that, most of them looked way too relieved. It's easy to tell that they had only stuck around so long thanks to mu husband's orders. Chiyo has been treating me pretty well though. I don't know if she has any idea about Sasori visiting, but she did have a knowing look about her when she saw the bear. She hasn't said a word about it though and everybody else thinks that I made it. Besides keeping that little secret, Chiyo has made it perfectly clear that she will be more than happy to help me out if Gaara has any problems. She's not the only medic Gaara will have ready to help him either. Yashamaru is really skilled with medical ninjutsu and even if his duties as an ANBU keep him busy, I know a handful of medical jutsu myself. It's not too much mind you, but I know more than most non-medic ninjas do.

Since Yashamaru and Baki have offered to keep their eyes out for assassins once we get home, Takeo let the two ANBU that were guarding me resume their regular duties. Thankfully, they don't seem to remember anything about Sasori. Takeo probably still thinks he died out in the desert a few years ago. That's for the best since those two never got along well. It wasn't just because of me either. Takeo was a bit of a loudmouth when he was younger and he always drove Sasori crazy. To this day, Sasori still get a persistent twitch near his left eye whenever Takeo is mentioned. Takeo is probably more aggravated than annoyed by Sasori. He never did get used to getting throttled by someone younger than him. Takeo has turned into a sweet man over the years, but that gosh darned arrogance of his is going to get him killed someday.

The good news is the villagers seem to respect Takeo for the most part. A lot of them are very agitated about Gaara hosting Shukaku, but they wouldn't dare hurt him as long as my husband's around. I just wish they'd quit glaring at Gaara when they think we're not looking. I don't know whose idea it was to start glaring at an innocent baby, but apparently it is pretty contagious. Those biased creeps are lucky I don't want to do anything violent in front of my kids. True, Gaara wouldn't remember it, but I think Takeo will be able to get my point across with a lot less ninjas ending up hospitalized.

Though the villagers are acting really nervous and agitated, Gaara doesn't seem to notice. I'd have expected him to be pretty tired by now, but he's just too curious to be tired at the moment. The heat isn't bothering him in the least either. If anything, he actually seems comfortable in it. I guess that is one positive side effect to hosting Shukaku. I'm just glad that obnoxious monster hasn't been causing us any trouble. The last thing I need is for Temari and Kankuro to get any more worried than they probably already are. Speaking of them, we've finally reached our house. It's still a bit early, so those two are probably sleeping. I wouldn't be surprised if Yashamaru and Baki are still out cold either. Yashamaru is used to them by now, but I'll bet Baki is about ready to get out of there. As high ranked as he is, he barely has any experience with little kids. Being half blind can't possibly help either.

A visibly exhausted Yashamaru greets us at the door. He doesn't look like he had any sleep at all last night, but he can hardly stop smiling now. As soon as he regains his energy, something tells me he'll go into overprotective brother mode for a while. He's been a nervous wreck ever since he heard about Shukaku being sealed. If it wasn't for his loyalty to the village, Takeo probably would have had his hands full with him that night. As it was, I heard those two ranting out it multiple times over the last few months.

Not long after Takeo and I sit down in the living room to tell Yashamaru all of the details of my time in the hospital, Temari and Kankuro come dashing out of their bedrooms straight to me. If they're this quick now, I can't imagine how fast their jutsu will be in a few years. After Temari and Kankuro fill me in on what happened at the Academy while I was gone, I finally get them to settle down long enough to introduce them to their little brother. I can't tell which of my three children is the most curious at the moment, but they all look happy to see each other. All of this excitement seems to have finally gotten to Gaara though. I can tell he's had a long morning, so I'll have to let him sleep a while before his siblings get to know him any better.

Gaara starts to fall asleep in my arms as I walk him to his room. He doesn't take long to curl up in his blankets after I put him in his crib. I wait for him to fall asleep before heading back towards the rest of my family. Baki silently drags himself into the living room not long after I get back there myself. Thankfully, Takeo is kind enough to let my former student go home and have the day off before I have to start telling my kids about the last few weeks. We'll all need to be fully rested so that things can get back to normal. Or at least, as normal as life caring for three kids can get.


	5. Worries

After I finally assured Temari and Kankuro that their new brother and I are doing perfectly fine and that they shouldn't worry about us, they go off to spend some time with their father for a while. Apparently Takeo offered to show them some of his jutsu down at the training grounds. I wouldn't be surprised if he arranged this so that I could get some rest. It's a wonder my knees have any circulation left at all after those two hugged them for so long. They must have been scared half to death for me. Now I have to go and calm Yashamaru down. He's been a bit hysterical ever since I came home. Thank goodness Temari and Kankuro didn't see him bursting into tears. They already think he's their aunt thanks to his appearance. The last thing he needs is to further encourage that.

When I finally track Yashamaru down, he's sitting in Gaara's room. Seeing as there are no fresh tear stains, I take it he has managed to calm down. I sit down next to him and let him start asking his questions. One thing Temari and I both know well is that little brothers tend to ask lots of questions and overreact to things. Granted, Kankuro overreacts to candy while Yashamaru gets crazy about Takeo. That's a few hundred times more serious by my standards.

Yashamaru glances at Gaara for a second before starting his interrogation session. When he does, he gives me an oddly suggestive look that creeps me out. "So, what took you so long to go for the better man?"

Oh lord, how the heck did Yashamaru guess that so quickly? I'd better play it dumb for a second just in case he's bluffing. "What do you mean?"

Now Yashamaru is giggling like a school girl. He may not be a girl, but Yashamaru sure is acting like a big sissy today. "Don't try to hide it. That kid is even paler than both you and Takeo. Even if that's just pure luck, his hair looks too much like Sasori's for that to be random chance too. It's pretty obvious you and Sasori did a little something together when Takeo wasn't looking." That's just great, now I'm blushing. Curse my body and its automatic responses. "How did you two end up getting together anyway?"

Seeing as Yashamaru is reading me like a book, I might as well come clean. Besides, somebody should know about this situation. I make Yashamaru swear never to tell a single soul about this information, not even my kids. I'd rather tell them that myself once they're old enough to understand. "Not long after Takeo captured Shukaku and stuck him in that rusty old teapot, Takeo and I got really drunk one night. Takeo passed out after trying to dance with me while I was on the other side of the room. I should say tried to stumble actually. I think he was making Shukaku look sober by that point." Yashamaru snickers at this before I continue. "I hadn't had as much wine as Takeo, but I was a bit loopy. I wound up a little bit outside the village before I knew what I was doing. Sasori ended up finding me and we talked for a while. I don't remember much of the rest, but I was getting more out of it by the second. I don't even know why I asked Sasori to do what we obviously did, but he sure didn't hesitate to comply. After we finished, I ended up falling asleep next to him. When I woke up, I was in my bed and Takeo was still passed out. I never thought anything would come of that night, but I found out I was pregnant soon after. Takeo still thinks he's the one who got me pregnant that night. He apparently believes he just doesn't remember getting romantic because of the alcohol."

Yashamaru takes a minute for the information to sink in before responding. "You do realize Takeo might kill Gaara if he finds out they aren't related right? You really should have run off when you had the chance. I'd imagine Sasori would have taken good care of you."

Just the thought of Takeo's potential reaction makes me nervous. I take Gaara up in my arms and hold him close. He slowly wakes up and cuddles into me. There's no way that I'll ever let Takeo hurt him. "I don't think Sasori is in such a good position right now. I don't know what skiing cats have to do with his situation, but he made it sound pretty horrible." Yashamaru must thing I'm really nuts now. I think Sasori was referring to a code name when he said he was in the cat ski. Either that or I was too out of it by that point in out encounter to understand him properly. I'm sure he mentioned S-ranked criminals though. "Don't worry Yashamaru. Takeo will probably never find out about Gaara's real father." I smile down at Gaara gently as he nuzzles closer to me. The next thing I say is partly to myself, partly to Yashamaru, and partly to Gaara. "Even if the truth comes out, I'll always protect Gaara no matter what happens."

Yashamaru skeptically nods in agreement. He promises that he'll always keep his eyes out for anything fishy on Takeo's part. He was kind of doing that already ever since I married him, but I still appreciate his support. I'll need all the help I can get between keeping Takeo in the dark about Gaara and getting Shukaku to stay well under Gaara's control. I can only hope that Gaara won't think ill of me once he finds out who his real father is. His happiness is going to be one of my main priorities for the rest of my life. If that wasn't the case, I'm not even sure I'd want to know what would become of him. Yashamaru and Takeo both love me too much for me to believe for a single second that they would really be there for Gaara if I died. Those two would waste way to much time grieving over me. Hopefully, Temari and Kankuro will be able to bond with Gaara enough so that they'll have his back if anything happens to me. That shouldn't be an issue for a while yet though. I've almost had to leave Gaara once and I have no intention of doing it for real any time soon.


	6. Full Moon

The full moon is tonight, so Takeo is home for once. The council has been driving him especially crazy lately since they are afraid of Gaara's seal breaking. Chiyo has told me that there is no way for it to break completely without external forces weakening it, but even she had to admit that Shukaku is more likely to try and possess Gaara during the full moon. Nobody knows why, but the demon appears to become even more bloodthirsty than usual when the full moon is out. I have heard enough rumors about Shukaku's previous hosts to know that Takeo has a good reason to be nervous right now.

The first host had a poorly constructed seal that forced him into a half possessed state frequently. He had been known to rampage through the desert when the moon was full. He caused giant sandstorms to surround the village. Anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in one of his sandstorms would never come out alive. Legend has it that Shukaku's first host tore out the throats of his victims with his own teeth and drank their blood.

The second host had better control over Shukaku. By her time, sealing techniques had become much more advanced. Thankfully for the village, she always secluded herself in a far off cave whenever the full moon approached. Her control was never perfect though. The corpses of dozens of slaughtered animals were often scattered all over her layer. Usually around midnight, she could be heard screaming in agony as Shukaku forced his chakra through her body.

In both cases, Shukaku could never be fully suppressed. His foul chakra managed to tear holes into the chakra coils of his hosts until they had no choice but to either release it or let it incinerate their bodies from the inside out. Few shinobi have ever proven to be capable of restraining the beast once he starts one of his bloody rampages. Luckily for us, Takeo's gold dust helped him subdue Shukaku before. I hope he won't have to go through that mess again, but at least we do have a backup plan just in case Shukaku does get out of hand.

He has already made sure that Baki and Yashamaru are present to help us if need be. Yashamaru's medical skills are always great to have at hand. As for Baki, he is one of the only shinobi to have seen Shukaku possess anyone and live to tell the tale. I was his sensei back then, so I did end up seeing part of that event. But Baki saw the whole thing from start to finish. He's still terrified of Shukaku to this day. The only thing he'll be able to do if worst comes to worst is to take Temari and Kankuro and get them to safety. I still can't believe Takeo is inconsiderate enough to force Baki into this by any means. There is a reason my former student hides half of his face after all. Considering he lost an eye to Shukaku's wrath, Baki is taking this rather well. He sure seems appreciative of the fact that he won't have to be near Gaara at all. I'll have to help him face that particular fear eventually, but I'd better not rush him yet. No need to make a full grown man faint and/or wet his pants after all. He'll need a bit of mental coaching before I help him there.

Baki is not the only one on edge at the moment. He's actually staying calm enough to tell Temari and Kankuro a story, so at least those two aren't worried. Takeo on the other hand won't stop pacing. I swear he's going to make me motion sick any minute now. He just might wear a bit of a rut into the floor if he keeps this up. Yashamaru keeps trying to get him to sit down and drink some tea or something, but even he can't hide his nerves. His ANBU training is making it less obvious, but I can tell he can't stop fidgeting. He glances over towards Gaara's room frequently too. At least his voice isn't betraying him now. I know he's trying to stay strong for my sake, but Yashamaru looks more nervous now than the day he met Takeo.

I'm pretty certain everybody in the whole house jumped when we heard Gaara scream. He made it until eleven thirty without making a sound, so things could be worse. All the same, Takeo and I nearly crash into each other as we bolt for Gaara's room. In a rushed whisper, I convince him to use his Third Eye technique instead of barging into the room. The last thing Gaara needs right now is to be distracted by my husband panicking. Takeo is too stressed out to argue with me anyway. It's better if I try to handle this myself before things can get any worse.

As I enter Gaara's room, I can tell Shukaku is giving Gaara a rough time. Sand is flying everywhere in here to the point where it's already scraping me all over my arms and legs. None of the wounds are deep, so I'll be able to heal them myself later. Even if the sand had broken my arm, it still wouldn't have been my main concern. Gaara is clearly suffering much more than I am. His body shows no signs of Shukaku's telltale blue markings, but he's still struggling. The sand literally tries to shove me away from Gaara multiple times before I can reach him.

Gaara won't stop squirming, but I eventually manage to pick him up. I try pocking him and singing to him, but neither seems to calm him down much. Settling down in an attempt to make both of us more comfortable, I try channeling some of my chakra into Gaara. He is in way too much pain to even try to look at me right now, but maybe he'll recognize my chakra.

I can feel Shukaku's potent chakra as it comes into contact with mine. Instead of simply driving it clear out of Gaara's body, Shukaku's chakra follows my own until I can feel it in my own body. I can feel it burning through my chakra system already. Then, I start hearing his voice. I can't make out everything he's screaming at me, but I can tell I've really enraged him. My head feels like it's being split open with a kunai and Shukaku tries to kill me. With one last heave, I thrust most of my remaining chakra at the demon.

Finally, I can hear the rest of the world again. Gaara and I both gasp for breath as Shukaku retreats. Takeo is peeping at us from around the corner. He looks almost exhausted as I feel, but at least he looks less tense now. He's looking at me like I'm a freak of nature, but I can understand that right about now. I don't know if he could tell what Shukaku was doing to me or not, but he knows more than anyone that Shukaku is no pushover. With a sigh of relief, he starts turning back towards the living room. We still have a long night ahead of us and, chances are, we'll have another long day with the council tomorrow.


	7. Meeting

I can already tell this is going to be a long day. Waking up at the crack of dawn is never appealing even under normal circumstances, let alone having to do so the morning after having to deal with Shukaku. From what Takeo has told me about the council, they're probably going to give at least one of us a headache today. It's a wonder I don't have one already. Yashamaru said Shukaku's chakra wasn't in me long enough to do much damage, but my whole body still feels sore. A few more hours of sleep would have helped, but of course the council is too insane to wait for anyone to get their rest. How those nuts can sit through meetings from dawn until dusk is beyond me. Then again, I've seen Takeo deal with piles of paperwork heavy enough to make his secretary almost pass out just from carrying it. Maybe being in the government is just full of insomniacs. I'll have to remember that for when Gaara gets older. Who knew Shukaku's future side effects would already be looking decent?

After making sure Yashamaru has everything he needs to take care of the kids today, Takeo and I head off to the meeting room. Annoyingly enough, we're the first ones there! At least now my brain might be able to get into gear before everyone else arrives. I have to have time to wake up a bit before I can really chew the council out. Takeo has mentioned quite a few irritating nicknames they already have for Gaara, so I'm not going to hold back on these people. I don't know whose idea it was to start calling a baby a weapon of mass destruction, but something tells me they'll learn to treat Gaara properly by the end of today.

After about an hour of lecturing Takeo about how much I hate mornings, the council finally decides to show up. It looks like Chiyo is here to so I will have a bit of backup. After a few moments of paper shuffling, one of the members finally begins the meeting. Judging from the look on his face, he must have been forced to do this. That or this man just loves giving horrendous expressions for no apparent reason. "So, I take it the beast did not take control?"

What kind of retarded question is that? Does it look like half of the village has been flattened? No. Do any of these people care about my son having to deal with a bloodthirsty tanuki? I guess not. What a way to start a meeting! Thankfully, Takeo answers before I can start scaring that man to death. "Gaara managed to keep the demon under control. Karura did have to help keep it in check though."

Now that got their attention. "How exactly did that happen?"

Takeo gestures for me to tell them about last night. I can't say I blame him for not telling them himself. These people don't exactly look too bright. "I tried to shove Shukaku's chakra back into the seal. Instead of going back, he followed my chakra and attacked me. Then I had to shove him back out of me with most of my chakra. And, in case any of you were wondering, Gaara and I are fine. We're both pretty tired, but Shukaku did not do any permanent damage." Now that everyone in the room understands the mood I'm in, there shouldn't be any more ridiculous comments. Even Takeo seems to be getting nervous seeing as he just scooted his chair a few extra inches away from mine. Chiyo is the only one in here that's not on edge now. If she hadn't taken the initiative to get this meeting on a more intelligent course, there would have been a heck of a lot more blubbering involved.

"From the sounds of it, you can still affect the seal. I can't say for sure why, but I'll bet that quite a bit of your chakra got into the seal before Gaara was born. It already would have caused a few other effects even if you had died like Shukaku obviously wanted you to. Perhaps this will make the demon easier to control in the future. In any case, it will at least keep him at bay for now. Gaara does seem to be developing rather quickly for such a young child from what I've seen, so he has a decent chance at keeping Shukaku behaved. I know that hosts do tend to mature much quicker than most people, but Gaara has already managed to outpace any host I've ever heard of development wise. Since the Shukaku was sealed into him so early on, his body probably has had to adapt much more quickly and to many more things than normal."

Most of the council members nod in agreement. I don't know much about seals myself, but Sasori has told me that outside forces can affect them sometimes. Since most demons are sealed after the host's birth, there probably isn't much known about what sealing it earlier could do. After a few brief exchanges about how much more force Shukaku might use on the seal once Gaara gets older, the discussion shifts to what we'll have to do once he is old enough to go to the Academy.

Considering I can't walk around without receiving multiple glares when Takeo isn't around, I almost don't want to know how the other kids will treat Gaara. Their parents sure don't seem inclined to let them even look at Gaara, let alone make friends with him. I suppose I'm lucky that Gaara will get to go at all. Takeo and I technically could train him at home, but he really should be around children his age. Besides, Takeo has never had any students for a reason. He used to be a bit harsh with his teammates when they trained, so him teaching anyone is not exactly an option that anyone will consider.

The council ends up deciding to allow Yashamaru to stay relatively close to the Academy when he's not on missions to 'protect the children in case of the weapon becoming a loose canon'. We'll have to wait and see what we'll do about his teammates and sensei though. Thankfully, I won't have to worry about that for a long time yet.

After listening to the council ramble on about the economy for most of the rest of the meeting, Takeo and I drag ourselves home. Now I understand why Takeo hates those meetings. He looked like he was about ready to smack his face into the table a few times. I honestly don't know which one of us is happier when we get home. Yashamaru seems more rested now and apparently all of the kids behaved well today. I have a suspicion there might have been promises of cookies involved on two of those accounts, but I'll take what I can get tonight. Gaara had already fallen asleep for a nice long nap about twenty minutes ago and both Temari and Kankuro are getting ready for bed. After such a crazy day, it'll feel good to relax with those two for a few minutes before I go to bed myself.

They both greet me with hugs, kisses, and quite a few yawns. It seems like they've actually been keeping themselves awake just for me. There is one thing I need to take care of before all three of us get our rest though. I make them pinky swear to always protect their little brother no matter what anyone else says or does. I've seen enough prejudice against Gaara to know that he'll need his siblings to help him out when he's older. The rest of the village might not react well to him, but I at least want my family to treat him the way he deserves to be treated.


	8. Academy

It has been three years since I made Temari and Kankuro promise to take care of their brother. Today is Gaara's first day at the Academy, so I've been worrying for him all morning. True, the kids only go to the Academy for half the day until they turn five, but that doesn't make leaving Gaara alone any easier.

Going to the Academy couldn't be completely horrible for him. The kids don't exactly learn much until they turn five since they can't really control their chakra much at all until then. What they do learn is pretty basic at first. All they have to do is learn the basic facts about the shinobi world and get used to being around people besides their families. It's safe to say that Takeo has prepared the kids well for the basic lessons. They probably will end up knowing more than most of the villagers in that respect by the time Takeo stops preaching to them. It's the reactions of the other kids that worry me.

Gaara hasn't exactly been around many people. Takeo barely trusts anyone enough to let them near him yet, but even the ones that do get to meet him still end up getting nervous. The ANBU members are good at being subtle about that, but most of the others are pretty noticeable. They tend to get really fidgety and they never stick around for long. Gaara seems to be too young to notice though. Something tells me that the kids who will be stuck in the Academy with him will make him notice somehow though.

Takeo is worried about Shukaku taking advantage of Gaara if things get ugly with the other kids, but I think he's far too sweet for that. He is a bit on the quiet and shy side, but he is also much gentler than most kids are. Most little kids his age tend to run around and make quite the ruckus, but Gaara prefers to spend his time more peacefully than that. I've seen him sages just talking to the stray cats around our house. Thank goodness, the cats seem to like him. Maybe it's because he's fed them a few times or because he's had Yashamaru and I help a few of the more sickly ones, but those little kitties sure do love Gaara as much as he loves them.

Speaking of Gaara, I think he's just arrived home now. It seems a bit too silent for it to be him though. Usually he runs straight to me if we've been apart for very long. Maybe Takeo forgot some papers at home or needed to grab some headache medication.

I don't know how he stayed so quiet, but before I know it Gaara dashes into the room I'm in and presses himself to my leg. I can't make out what he's saying, but I can tell he's crying. He's trying to stop, but that's just making him start sobbing harder. I don't know what kind of creep would ever make a three year old cry like this, but I'm not going to find out if Gaara can't catch his breath.

After I give him a nice long hug and wipe the tears from his face, I finally get him to tell me what happened. "They think I'm a monster! I didn't do anything to any of them, but nobody would listen to me. Why do they hate me?"

Of course those darn instructors didn't get the kids to quit bullying Gaara. I guess Takeo and I will need to teach them a little lesson of our own about how mentally scarred we can make people who have the nerve to upset any of our kids. For now, I'll have to settle for doing a bit of damage control. "Those meanies must not have known who they were talking to. You're the most kindhearted person in the whole village as far as I'm concerned." Gaara seems to be feeling a little better now, but I'd better make him understand how crazy the Academy can be just in case things don't improve. "Wait her. I've got something that'll cheer you up."

I quickly run to my room and rummage around in the closet for a minute. After I find what I'm looking for, I get back to Gaara and lead him to his room so he can sit down and get more comfortable. I sit down next to him with the photo album in my lap. After I flick through a couple dozen pages, I find one of the annual pictures that was taken at the Academy. I point to Sasori, who is backed into the top corner of the picture next to me. "See that kid? He used to be a lot like you. A lot of the kids didn't like to hang out with him because he was an orphan." Gaara's eyes widen and he asks me what happened to him. Good, I've got his attention for sure now.

"Well, he became one of my teammates. He wasn't much of a talker, but he was one of the biggest geniuses in the whole village. He doesn't live hear anymore since he became a member of a nomadic group a few years ago. But he does write me letters when he can. I can always count on good old Sasori to be in touch with me."

Sasori has only seen me a handful of times these last few years, but his visits have become more frequent. Maybe I'll even get to let the kids see him one day, but they're still a bit young for that at the moment. Just before I get too lost in my memories, Gaara asks, "Why is he blushing so hard?"

I forgot that picture was taken in the year Sasori and I accidentally touched hands during picture day. I hadn't even known him well until we were put on the same team, but it looks like he's been crushing on me for longer than I remembered. Now, how do I explain this to a three year old? I guess I'll have to play it short and sweet today. "He kind of had a bit of a crush on me."

"Did you like him back? Wouldn't Daddy have been jealous?"

And now I'm the one who's blushing. I'll never understand how such tiny kids can make people feel so awkward with such simple and innocent questions. "Your father was pretty jealous. I lost count of the number of practice fights he challenged Sasori to." Now I have to grin and force myself not to laugh. "My husband never did win. Sasori was just too cunning for him back then." Now for the tricky part. "As for me liking Sasori, he was one of my best friends. I just never really got interested in becoming his girlfriend. That probably would have ended differently if you're father hadn't won my heart so quickly."

Gaara nods in understanding and for a moment I think I'm in the clear. Man was I wrong. "He looks like me though. He even looks more like me than Daddy does."

It's a good thing I'm the only one who heard that. "I guess you're right. You're lucky to look like two powerful men. One day, they'll be the ones who are proud to look like you." That should end the rain of questions for now. It almost feels like I'm in the calm before a storm of endless questions now. At least Gaara should be able to cope with the other kids' reactions better now.


	9. Of Fears and Face Paint

Gaara seems to have been faring better at the Academy as of late. The kids haven't improved, but it seems like Takeo talked some sense into some of the teachers. They still don't treat Gaara very well, but they have at least stopped openly insulting him. It's not much progress, but people can be a bit nuts when they're afraid of something.

Speaking of being afraid, I've finally gotten the chance to talk with Baki about his fear of Shukaku. I know that he has more reason to fear that demon than most given what it did to him, but Takeo seems to be considering him as a future sensei for my kids. He seems to be building up tolerance of Temari and Kankuro already, but I can tell he's terrified of Gaara. I've barely even seen those two in the same room together. When Gaara and Baki do run into each other, Baki gets ridiculously nervous. I can tell that the only reason he doesn't run away from Gaara is because he knows exactly how I deal with people who make me mad.

Gaara says Baki's fear of him is not as obvious as that of most of the villagers, but that's probably because he doesn't know Baki well. All it takes is two seconds near Gaara for Baki to start sweating and for him to discreetly look for an escape route. You'd think he was dealing with a scorpion ready to sting him at the tiniest misstep. Heck, the only reason he agreed to come and talk to me is because Gaara is getting another medical exam today. I know Chiyo tends to spend a lot of time telling Gaara stories and such when he goes for a check up, so we'll have plenty of time to tackle Baki's phobia.

After getting us both a little tea so we can relax a bit before things get hairy, I give Baki a minute to prepare himself before I start lecturing him. Then, I confront him about his issue with Gaara. He takes his sweet time thinking about how to tell me his problem, that's for certain. It's only after a few minutes of careful thinking that he finally opens up.

"I know I shouldn't be afraid of your son. The problem is, I just can't get near him without remembering that demon. What if he loses control one day?" Baki takes a second to finger one of his scars before continuing. "I know that if anyone can control Shukaku, it would have to be someone from your family since you'll all so strong willed." Yep, he's definitely afraid of my reaction. Strong willed… he must mean strong fisted. "I just can't help remembering what happened to the last host."

At least Baki knows how to get to the point. "I can imagine how you must feel. After what happened to you, most shinobi would have lost it. It couldn't have been easy to have lost an eye after all." Baki flinches as soon as my words sink in. That day must still give him nightmares. "You may only have one eye now, but I'm sure you can still see the character of people really well. You've even managed to start tolerating kids now. So why not give one more kid a chance?"

When all else fails, a little flattery can go a long way. It looks like Baki is more willing to confront his fears now. After a brief pause, he finally admits it. "You have a point. That kid seems to be willing to trust people. It's about time somebody tried to return the favor." With a shaky smile he adds, "Besides, if he's anything like you, Shukaku will be the one to have something to worry about." I have to laugh at that last statement. I always was known as one of the few women in this village to have a backbone. Maybe if I'm lucky Gaara really will be able to teach Shukaku a lesson.

Baki is just about to head back to his house when we both here a bit of a racket coming from the bathroom. I had told Yashamaru and Takeo to keep Temari and Kankuro busy while I talked with Baki. Apparently, those two are screwing up. When the noise continues, Baki and I decide to check out what's going on over there. There aren't exactly many normal ways that any situation could be making that much noise. Once we get over there, we find the door cracked open with nothing but laughter coming out of it. After a shared glance filled with curiosity, Baki and I gently nudge the door open a bit more.

After a moment of letting the ridiculousness of the scene soak in, even Baki looks like he's forcing himself not to crack up. From the looks of it, Kankuro got his hands into some of the purple face paint that Sasori had left behind. All of the skilled puppet masters are given face paint once they reach a certain level, but Sasori never used it. At least Kankuro seems to be enjoying the war paint. Meanwhile, both Temari and Yashamaru are laughing their heads off. I don't know which amuses them more, Kankuro's seriousness about some paint that Takeo jokingly used to call manly make up or Takeo's reaction.

It's easy to tell that Takeo remembers who that paint used to belong to. He looks dead serious, his fists are clenched, and he mutters some comments about a runaway man who played with dolls. The good news is I can see his upper lip twitching upwards every once in a while. I know he's never approved of puppeteers, but even he seems to get a kick out of Kankuro's behavior. It doesn't take him long after I come in for him to start chuckling a bit himself. Chances are he's not particularly happy about Kankuro's apparent idea to become a puppet master, but even he has to admit that the look suits him well.

It's amazing how serious a five year old can look with face paint, so I can tell Kankuro is completely serious when he declares his desire to become his puppet master as soon as he sees me. I just wish Sasori could see this. He had always wanted a student to hand his puppets down to. Kankuro may not be able to become Sasori's student, but it looks like he'll be following in Sasori's footsteps.


	10. Nightmare

I don't know what time of night it is right now, but Gaara just ran into my room. From the looks of it, something must have really spooked him. Something tells me it wasn't just some crazy cats or jackals out hunting either. Those things can get pretty loud, but Gaara has never been bothered by them before.

After he almost knocks the wind out of me by landing right on my stomach, Gaara quietly tells me exactly what scared him. "I had a nightmare. Some fate potato with eyes and spirals was screaming at me to let him out!" How can a tanuki demon look like a potato to anyone? Whatever Gaara thought he was, it looks like Shukaku is finally starting to act up.

"That 'fat potato' was Shukaku. He's where you get the power to control sand from." Gaara looks like he understands me so far, but I don't know if he'll get this next part. "He must have been trying to break the seal."

Now Gaara looks confused. Of course Takeo never mentioned the seal. I know he was trying not to scare Gaara, but now I'm going to have my work cut out for me. "Shukaku is the mean monster that the villagers are scared off. He's only going to keep trying to possess you when you sleep until he might actually come out when you're older. You're probably too young for that now, but you'll still have to stop sleeping just in case."

Come to think of it, Gaara hasn't seemed to need sleep as much as Temari and Kankuro did when they were his age. Maybe this won't be too tricky after all. I should probably stay up with him though; he'll need to get used to having permanent insomnia before we can afford to leave him alone at night. Takeo said that Gaara's chakra pathways will adapt until he doesn't need to sleep anymore, but the urge to sleep will stay for about two years. Since Yashamaru and Baki are occupied with catching a few rogues that were seen around the border and Takeo has barely slept himself in the last few days, I'd better stay up with Gaara for tonight. I'm sure we can organize some shifts later, but I'll just have to deal with one night without sleep.

If there's one thing I know about sleep, it's that distractions almost never fail to prevent it. The last thing I need right now is to wake anybody up, so I think I'll take Gaara outside. After we take some stairs up to the roof, I start telling Gaara a few stories. Eventually, he starts telling me a few of his own. He talks about pretty much everything from the kids at the Academy to those stray cats that really seem to like him.

I can't say that cats would be my first choice for friends, but Gaara seems to love those little furballs. He must have named at least a dozen of them. Most ninja from this village take more of a liking to hawks and falcons, but Gaara leans more towards felines. You'd think he was talking about actual people judging from the way he describes how two toms are best friends while another tom only has eyes for a girl cat while he has a swarm of other ones chasing after him. Sheesh, here I thought my love life was a mess. Those cats are nuts! Just thinking about it makes me tired…

After what seems like only one long blink, I crack my eyes open to see Sasori chatting away with Gaara. I don't know how I could have let myself drift off like that, but maybe I should pretend I'm sleeping for a minute longer. Sasori hasn't shown up for a while and his letters haven't been very long lately, so I can't help but wonder what's been keeping him.

From the sounds of it, Gaara just finished another story about the cats. I'm starting to wonder if he'll end up writing novels about those things considering how much he knows about them. It's a wonder Sasori still looks interested. "Sounds like you've been busy. I wish the group I was with could be as friendly as those cats, but, personally, I think I'm just lucky that my partner hasn't tried to do any creepy experiments on me. Asking for normal people to talk to when they're involved is almost as hard as getting my grandmother to stop lecturing everyone about how crazy she thinks they are." Well, at least they both seem amused.

"You could always live with us. Mom never says anything bad about you and she always knows how to get Dad to listen to her." I don't know how, but Sasori looks both slightly pleased and a bit disturbed at the same time. He couldn't have seriously expected me to tell Gaara that they're related yet. That minefield will still need to be avoided until Gaara is old enough to both understand the circumstances and not let Takeo know.

"Trust me, the kazekage and I do NOT have a good history. He'd never let me live here. But thanks for the offer."

"It's because you loved Mom isn't it?" Sasori almost chokes at that. Not only can Gaara control sand (albeit not very well yet), but he sure knows how to throw around questions in such a way that they always strike the most awkward memories.

"That is part of it. But I think he's a bit jealous of me too. He never did stand a chance against my puppets." I see his rivalry with Takeo is alive and well. "I guess his gold dust is just world a bucket load of beatings! All that dust is good for is making him sparkle more than the Tooth Fairy!" It figures that the insults are still around too. At least Chiyo hasn't given him any nicknames to match. The day that happens, Takeo will finally snap at the council. On second thought, maybe I'll slip her a few suggestions just in case those idiots get any dumber.

"Do you still love her?" Okay, now I'm interested. Sasori just gained a sudden interest in his fingernails, so this has to be worth the wait. And with Gaara perfectly aiming the cute look, Sasori can't stall for long.

"I do. But I don't think she ever loved me." Now he's staring at me. Way to make me feel guilty! "Of course, I'm glad she's happy now. Besides, she has three excellent children now to boot. Temari could be her clone in strength and beauty. Kankuro has the makings of a great puppeteer." Sasori leans down and whispers the last part to Gaara. "But you are the best of all three of them. You are both as sweet and caring as your mother and as calm as your father. I wish I had a son just like you."

Not only was that sweet, but Sasori looks like he actually meant it. I wish Takeo could say something that sweet for once. Maybe Sasori is even more in love with me than I thought. As the sun just begins to rise, Sasori gives Gaara an enormous hug. "I wish I could stay, but I have to run. Tell Karura I said hi once she wakes up, okay." Sasori tousles Gaara's hair gently before he leaps away. Before I know it, he is nothing but a speck heading towards the horizon. I don't even know if I'm more relieved that Takeo won't see him or more frustrated that he never stays for long. All I know is that I'm afraid of Takeo finding out about who Gaara's real father is. Now that would be a real nightmare.


	11. Losing Control

Despite Takeo trying to train Gaara these last three years, he still can't control the sand too well. He is getting better at it, but his progress has been really slow. It's not like anyone can teach Gaara perfectly though. There isn't a single person out there that using the same jutsu as him after all. Takeo's jutsu do look similar to sand based techniques, but he doesn't have to control a demon at the same time.

It's really hard to tell who is the most frustrated about this situation. Most of the villagers are still scared to death of Gaara if not more so, Takeo ends up pretty beaten up after most of the training sessions, Gaara gets upset every time he does so much as accidentally scratching someone with his sand, and I've been the only person besides Yashamaru and occasionally Baki who has to try and get Gaara to calm down after those incidents. I guess I should consider myself lucky that Baki is pretty used to Gaara now. I just wish he wasn't the only one to actually change his opinion about Gaara for the better

The good news is my two other kids are already being taught proper jutsu. Chiyo has been teaching Kankuro how to manipulate things with his chakra and it shouldn't be too long before he gets his first puppet. Temari on the other hand has taken an interest in my fan. I've been having Baki teach her a few short range ninjutsu before I give that thing to her though. The last thing I need is for her to break her back carrying that fan, so she'll have to get a lot stronger before I let her even touch it. I think I'll try and give the kids their weapons at the same time. That way nobody will get too jealous. Now I just need to figure something out for Gaara.

Temari and Kankuro are actually going to their training right after the Academy lets them go, so I don't get to spend nearly as much time with them anymore. Speaking of letting the kids out, it sounds like Gaara just came home. It also sounds like something happened at the Academy again.

The kids stay clear of Gaara now instead of insulting him, but I think that's just making him feel worse. Gaara is still shy, but he really needs some friends. Since the other students avoid him as if he's a rabid jackal, Gaara has been getting pretty depressed. After I find him, he tells me that he accidentally hurt another student again today. Apparently, he had tried to return the ball some of the kids had been playing with after it got stuck on a roof (how they managed to get it up there in the first place is beyond me). The other children ran away from him for what seems like the thousandth time and the sand ended up hurting one boy's leg. Thankfully it was only a few scratches though.

I wish that those kids could realize that they're hurting Gaara much more than he's ever hurt anyone. Gaara is really sensitive about the way they treat him and it's making me think they'll end up pushing him way too far one of these days. Maybe Gaara and I can try and bring some medicine to that boy. If he understands that Gaara never means to hurt anyone, maybe he'll give Gaara a chance. Gaara seems to like the idea, so we'll go give it a shot. It's getting a bit late, but it's probably better if we get this over with as soon as possible.

As we stroll through the streets, I can't help myself from feeling the villagers glaring at us. It's usually not so bad when Takeo is with us, but Gaara and I never seem to get any kindness around here. Most of the villagers think that I made some sort of promise to Shukaku in order for him to let me live. Around here, that's worse than making a deal with the devil. I can't say I blame them there, but they never once asked me how I survived. Even Chiyo and I don't know all of the details, but a little information is better than none at all. After what seems like hours passing through a sea of glares and harsh whispers, Gaara and I finally reach the house where the boy, Kashike according to Gaara, lives.

After Kashike's mother opens the door, she starts raging about Gaara. I try to explain what we're there for, but she won't have any of it. Once her screams of 'demon' and 'monster' probably disturb half the village, she slams the door in our faces. Normally I might let that slide since I'd rather not do anything violent in front of Gaara, but this lady has officially pissed me off. Nobody in this whole village has my permission to scream about my son like that even when he wants to help them! The only help she'll be getting now is a few smacks to the head to knock some sense into her.

After I tell Gaara to go on ahead towards home while I try and talk to that woman again, I practically smash the door down with my knocking. Just as she prepares to launch herself into another tirade, I shove the lady back into her house and pin her to the wall with one hand on her stomach and the other pressed up against that huge mouth of hers. After she finally gets the idea that I'm not letting her go until I give her my opinion, I start my own little rant. "Now listen here, you pathetic excuse for a human being. I've just about had it with people like you who think it's okay to traumatize six year olds. If you EVER have the nerve to speak that way in front of my son again, I will make Shukaku look as jolly and harmless as Santa Claus! Got it?" The woman manages to smack her head into the wall so hard with her frantic nodding that she passes out. At least it's safe to say she won't be messing with my family anytime soon.

It only takes me a couple of minutes to catch up with Gaara. By the time we get home, Takeo has already arrived. Gaara nearly knocks him over with a huge hug, but he seems too distracted to return it full force. At first I think he just had a long day, but them he tells Gaara to go on and play with his cat friends while he talks to me alone. I guess I'll have even more annoying people to confront soon.

After he makes sure Gaara is out of earshot, Takeo quietly tells me the news. "I really need you to come with me to a council meeting. Yashamaru and the others are already there, but something tells me I'll need some extra backup tonight." Two things about this are like giant flaming red flags. First of all, Takeo is almost never nervous. Now he looks like he's dealing with about ten cobras with one of them getting ready to climb up his leg. The bigger warning sign is that Takeo never asks for help, especially since Chiyo has been very good about keeping the council in check these last six years. For Takeo to need my help on such short notice, something horrible must be happening. Considering my last few encounters with the council, this is definitely Gaara related. At least I'm still ready to chew people out. Something tells me whiny parents will be the leas of my problems now.


	12. Bloody Messes

By the time we get to the council's chamber everyone else has already arrived. Takeo still hasn't told me exactly what this meeting is about, but it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. Between the nervousness of most of the people in the room and the glares being given by the non-nervous people, this is definitely about Gaara again. Since there appears to be an even more heated debate over who should tell me about it than usual, something tells me this is going to end badly. After some agitated whispering, one of the men finally designates himself as the speaker/target. "Now that we're all here, it's high time we address one of the largest threats to the safety of the village, Shukaku's mentally unstable host."

The WHAT?! Oh dear Kami, this buffoons are even more misguided than I thought. Takeo wastes no time in binding my fists to the table and my feet to the floor, but my mouth is not going to be restrained so easily. I don't know which is worse: the fact that these lunatics just called a six year old one of the largest threats to the village or the fact that they just called one of the sweetest people in the village unstable. Clearly these people haven't look in any mirrors recently. It's thoughts like these that will destroy this village one day.

The man is rushing to finish his lecture now. At least he's not dumb enough to think that I'll let him get a word in once I start screaming. "The host has made next to no progress in controlling the demon. We can't afford to wait until he's old enough to murder everybody. We either have to get him under control somehow or kill him!"

I think the room just got about twenty degrees colder. Yashamaru looks too stunned to speak now and Chiyo looks like she's fixing to show everyone where I get my temper from. I think I'll let them have a taste of what I'll do to them. That always worked on Takeo anyway. Or maybe I'll have to scare some sense into them the hard way. "What makes you think you can kill Gaara? He's never gotten a single injury before and I doubt he'll get one any time soon. If you do kill him, Shukaku will just manifest himself again. If you screw up, then Gaara really will become the monster you all see him as."

Quite a few of the members are looking terrified with one man leaning off his chair so far that he's bound to hit the floor any second. As if I'd let these people off so easily. "Just think of it. Gaara is already isolated from most of the villagers. If you break his trust any further then he might let Shukaku loose. He might even start killing people on his own for all we know. Can you imagine what the rest of the villagers would do if this happened? They'd all blame you!"

Now Takeo is getting ready throw in his opinion. It's about time; he knows a lot more about manipulating politics than I ever will. "Maybe they have a point." You've got to be kidding me. I guess stupidity really is contagious. After he notices me attempting to glare through his skull to see if his brain is still working properly, Takeo grimaces. "It's not like we have any other choices. I tried training Gaara and all that's done is added a few dozen bruises onto me."

Looks like threats won't win these people over. I only have one other option. It's a long shot, but it's better than having anyone sent after my son by far. "I'll train him." Just my luck, now Takeo looks like someone just told him that the fourth hokage was resurrected and someone sent him to murder Takeo and all of his relatives. "Did it ever once occur to you that gold dust techniques and sand jutsu could be pretty different? Sure they look the same, but I doubt that they work the same. It's not like you ever had to deal with a demon hollering at you all the time. Maybe your methods just don't work on jutsu caused by Shukaku."

At least Chiyo looks like she understands my idea. "It is possible that Karura would have better luck. Shukaku's jutsu are based on wind and earth techniques. Since Takeo's gold dust is more related t lightning jutsu than anything else, it makes sense that a wind user like Karura could train Karura better. Who knows, Gaara's chakra just might be more like his mother's than Takeo's."

Something about the way Chiyo said that makes me think she knows or at least suspects that Sasori is Gaara's father. She sure didn't call Takeo Gaara's father in any case. Now is not the time or the place to deal with that situation though. Before Takeo gets a chance to try and dissuade me, another one of the council members jumps at my offer. "We'll give you a month to make decent progress. If you can, we won't have to kill Gaara. If you can't, we have no other options and you'll probably be dead anyway."

Well that's a disturbing way to end a negotiation. All the same, this is probably the only chance I'll have. After signing a large stack of paperwork full of conditions and disclaimers, Takeo and I start heading home while Yashamaru stays behind to file some mission reports. We walk in almost complete silence before Takeo starts talking again. "You know that was unnecessary. I could have gotten the council to just test Gaara instead and he probably would have done perfectly fine. But now I might have to lose the both of you."

Sometimes I have to wonder if Takeo knows me very well at all. No wonder Sasori thinks he's even more oblivious than Shukaku on a binge drinking spree. "Do you really think I'd just stick Gaara's life on the line like that? It's a wonder he has lived this long to begin with. Heck, it's a wonder either of us made it." Takeo still has nightmares about those complications. I may be going a bit too far, but he really needs to be put in his place now. "I did not live through being intended as Shukaku's sacrifice for my son to be murdered. I don't know about you, but I think that I'd rather have died if that could have made Gaara capable of controlling Shukaku."

Takeo probably would have had quite the response to that, but neither of us can speak once we see the carnage in front of our house. There are hunks of torn out fur littering the ground along with pools of blood that have not yet dried. The chunks of black fur appear less numerous that the brown fur, so I'm guessing the black cat won. Either way, there are bloody paw prints leaving the scene of the crime. In the distance, we hear the tortured screams of a cat, but whether it was one of the combatants I don't know. Since there isn't a single speck of sand in the blood, there is no way Gaara did this at least. I can only imagine how horrified he'd be if he saw this gory mess.

Takeo and I slip inside as quickly as possible to avoid spooking the kids. Hearing a massive cat fight couldn't have helped there nerves. It doesn't take us long to hear some whispering by Gaara's room. Since the door is open a little bit, we both take a peek inside. Temari and Kankuro both seem to be trying to decide exactly what to tell us about the cat n the room. As for Gaara, he is holding the battered looking cat in his lap and whispering to it so quietly that I can't hear what he's saying. The cat has a lot of injuries, but they appear to have been dressed. That orange cat must be feeling better since it is purring pretty loudly now.

After I usher Takeo into our bedroom so we can talk without disturbing the children, he groans. Takeo only really cares for hawks, falcons, and that sort of animal. Convincing him to let Gaara keep that cat won't be easy, but I've been through much worse arguments with him. "You're always saying we need more shinobi. A few ninja cats could help with that. Besides, Gaara needs the motivation." Thankfully Takeo is too exhausted to argue. As he collapses into bed, I go to the kitchen to get some milk and chicken for our new pet. No use letting that poor cat die of malnutrition.


	13. Training

The council literally wouldn't allow Gaara to be trained in the village by me as he could prove to be a 'highly unstable disaster zone'. They were probably thinking about me more than Gaara for once judging from that description. All the same Takeo and I had to walk for about two days to reach a suitable oasis. Gaara didn't seem to mind the long walk. If anything, he seemed to enjoy not being glared at for days on end. Takeo on the other hand had not fared so well.

Takeo has always pretended to be tougher than he really is, but he had been acting like a bit of a wuss for the whole trip. All of those years stuck in an office must have gone to his head. He usually can't travel anywhere without a caravan thanks to his status now. He could barely stop himself from whining the second he left the village. You'd think it would be overly obvious that the sandstorms would get nasty or that sand was likely to scrape your feet if you walk in the desert for long periods of time. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't have laughed if they had seen Gaara trying to get Takeo to cheer up. The only crazier moment of the journey was when a scorpion crawled onto Takeo's foot. Thankfully it didn't sting him, but I think that was because his high pitched scream scared it off. At first Takeo had wanted to help me train Gaara, but it sure didn't take him long to leave after I told him I'd rather do it alone.

I already had all of the provisions I would need for a long while, so Takeo probably thinks I asked him to leave since he wasn't needed to help gather resources and he obviously wasn't getting anywhere with Gaara. He'd have a heart attack if I told him the real reason why I told him to go. After Gaara and I finished setting up camp, that reason finally arrived. Who ever thought Sasori would ever be late to anything?

After he prepares his own supplies (you would have thought he had stuffed his whole workshop under his cloak), Sasori finally explains his delay. "I got a new partner a few weeks ago. Nobody was sad to see the old one go, but this blonde brat is an ignorant blabbermouth!" I take it Sasori needs to learn a bit of control of his own. It's not like him to get quite so miffed, so his new partner must be another crazy one.

Next, I tell Gaara exactly how we will be training for the next few weeks. Our main goals are for Gaara to learn how to control his chakra and his emotions more efficiently. Chakra control should be the easy part. Sasori has to use his chakra very precisely thanks to his puppets and he's been using those since he was little. I think he might have actually been about the same age Gaara is now. What's even better is that Sasori said that Gaara won't need to have such sharpened skills to control his sand. Since the medium his chakra will be going into is highly maneuverable, Gaara only needs to know how to move sand in relatively undefined ways. He shouldn't need to form his sand into specific shapes for a while and by then he should have much better chakra control.

Gaara's emotional control is the more pressing and difficult issue. Takeo and I have both noticed that Shukaku gains more influence when Gaara gets upset. Getting Gaara to stay calm should make suppressing Shukaku's chakra much easier. The problem is that Gaara is extremely sensitive. A village full of hostile people will take him ages to adapt to completely. The villagers don't appear to be changing their attitudes in the least, so Sasori and I will have to teach Gaara a few methods to help him stay calm. Sasori, Takeo, and I all tend to be calm in battle, but none of us has much control once we get really mad. Hopefully Gaara has better luck there than we do.

Sasori and I agree that Gaara's chakra control should be dealt with first, so we decide to demonstrate our own in a sparing match. It has been years since I've been in a real fight, but I van still use wind jutsu pretty well. Sasori on the other hand seems to have learned a few new tricks. Not only can't I recognize many of his puppets, but his taijutsu has improved. That used to be his weakest point, but now he has managed to land a few quick blows on me.

Neither of us got very serious and the fight only lasted about five minutes, but Sasori and I still end up getting pretty sweaty. I had almost forgotten how exhausting it could get to spar with anyone. After we catch our breath, Sasori and I let Gaara show us what he can do with his sand. He's not even close to as quick as Takeo is with his gold dust, but he's still not half bad speed wise. His main problem is that he can't use much sand at once without it becoming hard to control. In fact, he can't even manipulate a mass of sand half his size all that well.

Sasori then demonstrates to Gaara exactly how he works his puppets. He pulls out one of his simpler ones and channels his chakra until it forms thin strings that can successfully move the puppet. He flexes the puppet's limbs for a moment, before he really kicks things up a notch. With a few quick twitches of his fingers, Sasori has the puppet rapidly fire off about a dozen of his weapons to land in a perfect circle around him. What a show off.

After that performance, Sasori tells Gaara to try moving a chunk of sand about his size all the way across the oasis without having it touch the ground. I can tell this is going to take a while. As soon as Gaara lets even a tiny grain of sand touch the ground, Sasori has him start over again. Gaara manages to get the sand a little further each time, but I can tell he's getting exhausted. It takes him about two hours to complete his task and by then he's pouring sweat and gasping for breath. And yet Sasori wonders why he never actually had any official students.

For the second portion of the day's training, Sasori and I teach Gaara various ways to manage his emotions. First we teach him how to meditate which should help him get himself at peace with his life. Then we teach him deep breathing exercises to help him calm down quicker. To get him to never give up on himself we have him look at his reflection in the pool of water towards the center of the oasis and say five good things about himself. The last thing we do is have Gaara draw us a picture of what he wants to happen thanks to his hard work. Even Sasori has to wipe a little tear out of his eye once he sees the picture- a little group sketch of Takeo, Sasori, me, Gaara's new cat, and all of my kids as one big happy family.

With that done, Sasori and I take shifts watching Gaara as the night goes on. Every day we will go through a similar routine. After breakfast, Gaara will work on chakra control with a new task to do every day. He'll have to learn how to use his sand in any way we can think of. Some of the tasks we have in mind include molding the sand into specific shapes, hitting targets with it, and even getting the sand to carry Gaara. After Gaara is successful, we'll eat lunch. Then we will go through similar emotional training exercises with a few added in if we can think of any other ones. After that we'll just have dinner and relaxing left. These next few weeks will be tiring for all three of us, but I am sure they will be worth it.


	14. New Weapons and an Old Friend

After weeks of rigorous training, Gaara is finally ready to return to the village. I don't think I've ever seen Sasori look so happy and depressed at the same time. Whoever his new partner is, he'll be lucky if Sasori doesn't give him a few scars. For some odd reason, Sasori seems to hate that group he has been with all these years, but I can't get him to leave. I can understand how hard it would be for him to come back to the village, but he'd almost be better off living alone judging from the way he describes the other rogues he lives with. He did seem happy to help Gaara make something for himself though.

It's about time that Temari and Kankuro get their own tools to work with, but we had to get Gaara used to his first for obvious reasons. It took Gaara quite a while to bind the sand together into a gourd and after all that work Sasori still had to seal it up so that it wouldn't take much chakra to maintain. It should be well worth it though. If Gaara can use the same sand frequently enough, it should become a bit easier to control. Granted he hasn't had any issues with Shukaku since the last full moon, but we can never be too careful. Besides, I doubt Gaara will spend every second of his life in a desert. Having some sand to work with wherever he goes should come in handy once he's older.

After Gaara and Sasori hug each other for so long that their clothes start sticking together, I manage to convince them that we really can't wait any longer. The last thing we need is for the council to start sending people after us. I had enough issues with Takeo's hawk since he sent it to check on us every few days. It's a good thing Sasori still knows a good handful of genjutsu.

Without Takeo's whining dragging us down, Gaara and I reach the village in about a day. I'm sure the council will want to test Gaara's control soon, but they can wait a few more days. Temari and Kankuro must be missing me terribly by now. Yashamaru and Baki probably miss me more since they've probably been stuck with those two ninety percent of the time. They may be building up endurance, but there are some situations that only parents can really stand about kids. I just hope there weren't any makeovers involved this time. Yashamaru's hair do looked like a major hair don't after Temari and Kankuro got way too enthusiastic about the glitter last time.

For once, the house does not look like a disaster zone when I get home. It's the cleanest I've seen it since Temari was born actually. It doesn't take me long to find out why. Temari is blowing the dust a way with quick bursts of wind jutsu while Kankuro manages to manipulate the massive vacuum cleaner using chakra strings. Both Yashamaru and Baki look completely relaxed once we find them. Apparently, they tricked the kids into treating chores like chakra training games. And here Gaara was stuck hauling pounds of sand all over the place! At least I won't have to worry about cleaning the house myself now. Next we'll just have to get the kids interested in cooking.

Once the kids deem the house to be completely spotless, I get them all into the living room. Then I carry my good old iron fan into the room and give it to Temari. She doesn't seem disturbed at all my all of the constant polishing that thing needs or even by its weight. I can't say I'm too surprised since she has almost never said anything was too hard for her. As for Kankuro, he gets one of Sasori's old puppets. The second I say Sasori's name, Kankuro practically falls in love with his new puppet. I don't know why anyone would like a creepy scarecrow like thing with three eyes, but Sasori said it was one of the more dynamic puppets he made in his earliest attempts. Apparently it works well with the Black Ant and the Salamander, so Kankuro will be able to have quite the arsenal later on.

Just as the children finish marveling at their new tools; Chiyo comes in with a carrying cage. Chiyo might not be the happiest person out there, but even she has to smile a little as all three of the children, especially Gaara, start looking at her like she just brought in a twenty pound bag of candy. After she opens the cage, the orange cat, now looking quite handsome, proudly strides towards the kids. After he clears his throat, the tom begins speaking. "Greetings. You must forgive me for my accent as I am not quite used to speaking in your language." The cat's lips draw upwards as the children start gaping at him. Who knew Chiyo wasn't kidding when she said she could get pretty much anything to speak. "My name is Atami. I am to live with you from now on. Though I am sure that will not be a problem with my friend, Gaara." With an explosive purr, Atami drops his dignified manner for a moment to give Gaara quite the thorough rubbing. I hear him whisper a sincere thank you before he marches off to tour his new home. The kids might have to keep Atami's fur out of the furniture, but something tells me I'm going to enjoy having that little furball around.


	15. This Means War

I'm beginning to understand why Gaara is so obsessed with cats now. Atami has been telling everyone battle stories night and day since he came home. Gaara has already told me about half of them before, but some of those stories still surprise me. Most people would never expect cats to lead such complicated lives. True to form, Atami is starting another one of his tales even though Gaara and I could be called to meet the council any minute now. It's almost eight o'clock at night now and I haven't heard a word from those lunatics all day. They probably know about Takeo's meeting with the daimyo, otherwise they wouldn't take so long. Since Takeo won't be home for another day or two, Atami will probably be the only thing keeping us busy right now.

Before he starts reciting his tale, Atami makes himself look as dignified and proud as possible. Takeo used to do the same thing and believe me; it just makes people look ridiculous. All the same, we let the cat make himself nice and comfortable. With his head held high and his fluffy chest puffed out, Atami begins the story. "As you all know well, I lived with a fairly large group of strays before you took me in. We did everything together from chasing mice to stealing the occasional fish from the market." He can't resist licking his lips before continuing. "The point is, we knew each other quite well. Sure we had certain cats who hung out more than others, but we were all willing to share our kills and sleep in the same areas."

"Out of all of my friends, Neko was my favorite. She and I spent almost all of our time together. One could say we were much more than friends actually. In fact, we were planning on starting a family someday." It sounds like Atami had a girlfriend. Now why in the world wasn't she with him after that fight?

Atami's fur bristles up as he recalls the next event. "A few hours before you guys found me, a strange black male who called himself Shiva wandered into our territory. He had quite a few scars, so it was clear that he was a trouble maker. As soon as Neko and I stumbled upon him, that no good fleabag started showing more lust than just bloodlust, if you get my drift. It didn't take long for the two of us to start brawling. I managed to tear out hunks of that hooligan's fur and add a few scars to his collection, but apparently he gave more scars than he had." With a wince, Atami revealed the unfortunate outcome. "Shiva thrashed me until I could barely move. Just before I passed out, he forced Neko to leave with him. I don't know where the two of them are now, but I remember hearing Neko screaming not long after Gaara found me."

Sasori and Takeo may have fought over me multiple times, but even they never acted so cruelly. There is no way I'll let anyone suffer that badly, even if they're only a cat. "Don't worry Atami, I'm sure Neko is fine. Tell you what, I'll even help you find her. She can stay with us if she wants to." With a purr, Atami opens his mouth to thank me only to freeze as we hear muffled yelling from outside. With a cautious growl, Atami cocks his head to the side for a moment then flicks it upwards to indicate the direction of the commotion. After I tell the kids to stay put and keep quiet, I sneak outside to investigate.

It takes me only a minute to climb up to the roof, but by then the ruckus has already stopped. In the middle of the roof stands Sasori holding puppets drenched in blood as he looks over the bodies of about half a dozen ANBU members. The fight appears to have ended very quickly, but the deaths don't appear to have been painless. Each of the men is covered with twice as many deep gashes than necessary for them to die. Sasori stashes his puppets and the corpses into sealing scrolls before he even begins to explain.

"It looks like the council had no intention of waiting to see if Gaara could control Shukaku or not. If it wasn't for the fact I was assigned to keep an eye on this village for a while, these men probably would have broken into your house. I'm sure I don't have to tell you exactly who they were after."

"Takeo did NOT permit them to do this. He may make some rash decisions, but this is too crazy, even for him. He's going to have a fit when he gets home." And I'll have a fit when I deal with the council. They'll end up fearing me more than Shukaku before the week is over.

Sasori allows himself to smirk as he considers his own plan. "I'll teach those old bags a lesson myself. There was a reason I used to be known as the villages torture and interrogation expert. I just need to prepare my tools. You and I both know that anyone who dares to mess with my son is better off killing themselves."

"What are you going to go with: the snakes, the scorpions, or the tarantulas?"

"Maybe all of them. I just need to catch a few fresh ones to let loose. Maybe my partner will be willing to chip in a little himself. He's more likely to kill people than torture them, but his creations will make these idiots go out with a bang." Apparently this is some sort of pun as Sasori actually chuckles a little. He usually only does that when Takeo gets beaten up, so I can tell he's going to enjoy this little piece of revenge. "My partner if pretty young himself, but he's smarter than he looks. He has barely stopped teasing me about Gaara being my son since he found that out, but at least he's learning not to cross any lines. Speaking of crossing lines, it looks like we have a few unexpected spies." Oh crap. How in the world am I going to get my kids not to blab half of this to the whole village?

After Temari whacks Kankuro on the shoulder for getting them caught (it was probably all three of them that Sasori noticed), my kids come all the way into the open. As soon as Kankuro gets the courage to start speaking, he quickly blurts out about thirty questions to Sasori that are barely comprehendible at all. What's even crazier is Sasori responds almost as quickly. Such is the life of a famous puppeteer I suppose.

After the initial bombardment, Gaara asks if Sasori is really his father. I'm glad Sasori wants to handle this one. That is one bombshell that I never looked forward to confronting. "Yes Gaara, I am your father. Please don't tell the kazekage that though. I doubt he knows about it and he probably would react very badly if he found out. To be honest, it's probably if you don't tell a single person about any of this little meeting. You see, I'm on a secret mission. I'm not really supposed to be here until it's done and I could get in big trouble. You don't mind keeping this one secret right?"

After the kids all agree to never speak about tonight, I manage to get them all to head to bed. Gaara squeezes in one last hug before he leaves and whispers something to Sasori. Judging from the way he's blushing, Sasori must have been pretty surprised. All the same, he still departs for the night a short time later. At least I can be sure of having some secret reinforcements more frequently now.


	16. A Moment's Peace

Takeo cornered the entire council in the meeting room as soon as he returned to the village. I offered to help give those creeps a tongue lashing, but he insisted on doing it himself. Apparently he thinks he finally needs to assert his dominance over them though that sounds like he thinks he's part wolf (or maybe Inuzuka). That couldn't be too inaccurate since the council members all act like rabid animals half the time. I'm just glad Takeo has ensured a solid day of peace, quiet, and safety for all of us. Temari and Kankuro are both spending the day with Yashamaru to get a little experience with first aid in case things get out of hand. Meanwhile, Gaara and I get to spend the day with Chiyo.

Chiyo has always been known to have a fierce temper, but I can't say I've ever seen her laughing quite so hard at someone else's suffering before. Sasori apparently went through with his plan since five council members are currently in the hospital due to paralysis, three more are there for blood poisoning, and another two of them were found half out of their minds in a snake filled pit which appeared overnight outside the village's gates. I would have broken a few dozen bones and hacked off a few limbs myself, but I think Sasori made enough of a point. The oddest part was that a single member, apparently the idiot who sent out the assassins, did end up dying though Sasori obviously didn't do it. Whoever pulled it off must be a bit of a psychopath himself: the man has found with his head blown clean off with his blood splattered all over his house.

As glad as I am that those men got their just desserts, Gaara does not seem to be taking it well at all. I'll never understand how he could be so upset over people who tried to have him killed. He did seem a bit relieved to be able to tell Chiyo all about his meetings with his father though. Aside from her trying to drag Sasori back to the village, I don't see any harm in telling Chiyo about our situation.

"It's good to know my grandson has been doing well. I haven't seen him in ages myself, but I'm glad that he has at least been kind enough to stick around. Not that he could bear to be far away from you mother if he could help it."

I'm starting to wonder if making me blush runs in Sasori's whole family. It's a good thing you can't tan yourself just by blushing; I'd rather have my face bright red every few days than a dark brown any day. This family makes me redder than any sunburn ever could in any case. "If you don't mind sweetheart, I need to have a little chat with your mother. Why don't you see if you can catch us a fish or two out of this old pond in the meantime?" After passing her fishing pole over to Gaara, Chiyo ushers me to follow her. Once she is sure Gaara can't possibly hear us, she starts giving me one of her infamous lectures.

"Do you have any idea how badly this could end if Takeo finds out? Not that I mind having a great grandson mind you. I just think you should have given me that particular gift earlier instead of marrying that husband of yours. Takeo has always been one of the thickest people in the village and he's a greedy power obsessed man with an over inflated ego. Those are only a sample of the perfectly true reasons why Sasori always hated that hot head. What ever possessed you to get yourself in such a mess anyway?"

I'm never going to hear the end of this argument. Sometimes Chiyo just refuses to see reason. I didn't even know about exactly how crazy Sasori was for me until he took advantage of me. Even after that it took him a few months after I became pregnant for him to really open up. I'll admit, I should have noticed his feelings earlier. That was my fault. It's not like I just walked out in the desert one night with the intention of betraying my husband though.

"First of all, Takeo confessed his feelings YEARS before Sasori did. It took me getting pregnant with his child for Sasori to mention that. Besides, Takeo is not a horrible man. Yes, he can be a bit dense and a little too concerned with value. But everyone has flaws. Takeo is also a reasonable leader, a loyal husband, and a caring father. He may get wrapped up in his work at times, but he really just wants what's best for the village. The only person he ever neglects is himself. Besides, I didn't exactly intend to be giving you a great grandson in the first place."

After briefly recounting my drunken misadventure, I prepare for another tongue lashing. But it never comes. For once, my former sensei is at an utter loss for words. After a few minutes in silent consideration, she decides to enlighten me with her opinion. "You may be young Karura, but you still are wiser than most people in this village. If you can speak to Takeo like this, even he will have to understand your situation. Gaara is lucky to have you as his mother."

Chiyo rarely praises anyone. Even Sasori admitted that she rarely said a single word in recognition of his achievements and he barely deserves to speak on that front. I must be accomplishing more than I ever hoped to dream for if Chiyo can honestly talk to me like this. Before I get the chance to express my gratitude, we are both surprised by a startled yelp coming from the direction of the pond.

By the time Chiyo and I race over to the pond, Gaara has already taken good care of what startled him. At the end of the pole dangles what I never thought I'd ever see anyone catch from that old pond- a huge fish. While I struggle to find any reason for us to be under a genjutsu, Chiyo chuckles. "I'm telling you, that kid is quite the miracle worker. He must take after you!"


	17. A Bloody Mistake

It has been about a year since the assassination attempt. Things have been relatively quiet since Takeo let the council know exactly how we felt about that little mistake of theirs. From what I've heard, his threats were graphic enough to make every single member run home in sheer terror before he was even finished mentioning how we'll cut off as many parts of their bodies as possible without killing them. Sasori still laughed when I told him about Takeo's rant, but I think he made his point anyway. He better have; he could barely speak for a week afterwards. Yelling for hours on end is well known to damage the throats of anyone except for Shukaku.

On a lighter note, Atami's training has been progressing nicely. Since Sasori has been visiting more frequently, he has allowed Atami to practice his moves on a few of his puppets. When Sasori isn't available, Gaara just helps Atami train by creating cats out of his sand for him to spar with. He can take on about three before he gets tired now. The only problem is Shiva sounds way too underhanded for Atami to handle until he learns a few more powerful techniques. He should be prepared to fight Shiva by the end of the year if we're lucky.

For now, all that's left for us to do is wait. Sasori dropped by at about ten o'clock tonight, so I don't have any more training to do. He left hours ago, but I just can't sleep to save my life tonight. I suppose all of these years of staying up with Gaara have started increasing my stamina. While I know I can never have enough of that, it still feels odd not to be able to sleep so soundly anymore. Baki will never let me hear the end of that since I always used to make my students train in the middle of the night. I always told them it was for endurance, but I mainly did it to avoid giving them heatstroke. Now matter how much I consider my comrades, they always seem to think of me as a strict battle crazed maniac. That's not far from the truth anymore thanks to all of the arguments I've dealt with since Gaara was born, but it does still seem a bit harsh.

All the same, I do still manage to get a little alone time. Since Gaara is probably still out stargazing, I don't have to worry about anyone watching me whatsoever. Being the wife of the kazekage may sound easy, but constantly being watched by the whole village can get stressful. I barely get to be alone now, but that just makes it more enjoyable when I get the chance. There is nothing quite like taking a stroll outside at this time of night, that's for sure. Tonight it's even more pleasant since there is a slight breeze blowing through. There is something refreshing about the cool night air that nearly always calms my nerves.

The muffled sounds of feet hitting the sand alert me to the fact that I am not as alone as I thought. Most of the villagers should be in bed my now and even if it weren't so late few people ever tend to be so close to our mansion when they aren't on official business. Thankfully, Takeo comes out of the shadows soon enough to prevent me from getting to anxious. Something seems to be bothering him though. His movements seem stiff and deliberate, almost as if he's preparing to lead an army into battle. Instead of the confident expression of a man marching into war, Takeo instead maintains a relatively blank face. That in itself is odd enough for him, but now even the air feels charged as if the whole world is waiting for something to happen.

With a snarl, Takeo cuts to the chase. "I saw you." For once, I can't think how to get myself out of this one. Maybe if I'm lucky Takeo's is mentioning something else. But no, the deadly venom filling his voice could only mean one thing. "I saw you with him. If I'm not mistaken, Gaara called that backstabbing traitor his father." After pouring as much malice and spite into the last word as possible, Takeo stalks towards me with a ferocious gleam in his eyes that would have even Shukaku cowering.

"I meant to tell you. It isn't exactly easy to bring up that sort of accident with all that I have to deal with." Takeo snorts at my last statement. His hand ball into fists and he clenches them so hard that he nearly pierced his own skin. With all of the deadliness and silence of a cobra, he corners me against one of the walls. He bends over until his haggard breathing echoes through my ears. With a hoarse whisper, he terrifies me even more.

"You really think I believe shit. From the way that low life puppeteer used to gawk at you, it's a wonder there aren't another dozen little 'accidents' running around this village like vermin. I would have killed that kid if I'd known you had betrayed me like this." Tears are actually flying down his face now even as he roars at me like a madman. "And to think I loved you! At least that damn kid is suffering a fate I'd never even wanted for my own children. My only regret is that I put the fate of the village on the shoulders of a mistake that never should have been born."

I can't believe he's stooping as low as the council now too. "If you EVER call my son a mistake again, I will-"

"You'll what? Break my heart again? Cheating on me is bad enough, but now MY children are stuck with a half brother and a traitorous mother. I may not know what possessed you to betray me or if you ever loved me to begin with, but I do know that I don't want my children to suffer just because of a woman like you." With a sickening smirk filled with both sorrow and hate, he hisses his intentions at me. "I'd rather kill you than allow you to corrupt my children any day."

Before I can react, Takeo prepares to smash his fist into the side of my face. The next thing we know, tendrils of sand wrap around his wrist and slam him down onto the ground. Takeo screeches and writhes in agony as he tries to pry his hand free, but it is no use. The sand continues constricting his wrist until I here bones begin snapping. With a howl of rage, Takeo fires a single arrow of gold dust. And it hits its mark.

A shrill scream pierces the night and the sand crunches all the way through Takeo's arm. There is no time for me to help my enraged husband stifle the blood rushing out of the stump where his wrist used to be or even to examine the disembodied hand to see if it could be reattached later. As I round the corner of the mansion, I don't know whether I should be more relied or petrified.

Slumped up against the wall lies my youngest son. He is still conscious, but he is nearly unresponsive as he gasps for breath. I can still see the mass of sand that tried to stop the arrow, but it failed to prevent the impact. With his hand clasped firmly over a gaping wound in his shoulder, Gaara looks like he could pass out from blood loss at any moment. With a grunt, I manage to ease him over my shoulder without jostling him too much. I can only hope that Chiyo will be able to prevent any permanent damage.


	18. Wounds of the Body and Heart

Now that Gaara's injury has been treated, the council is forcing me to come to another meeting. Thankfully, Chiyo managed to convince them that I should at least be allowed to check on Gaara. Judging from the speech I've been hearing though, Chiyo probably just wanted to chew me out. Either that or she wanted to get me to encourage Gaara to give Takeo a thrashing.

"That idiot is lucky Gaara didn't aim for his throat instead of his wrist. As it is, he's as made as a rabid jackal now. I doubt he'd be crazy enough to go after you again directly, but he probably has some hair brained scheme ready to make you miserable. With any luck, Sasori will take you and Gaara with him or he will at least do us a favor and teach that husband of yours a lesson. It probably would end better if you had told Takeo earlier, but at least now you have a perfectly good reason to leave him."

After that and about a dozen other mini rants, Chiyo finally lets me have fifteen minutes alone with my son. He looks a lot better than when I last saw him and probably should have been able to come home by now, but he's being kept in the hospital so that the medics can observe whether or not Shukaku's hosts heal faster than most people. Gaara's shoulder is almost completely mended, but it still has a few bandages on it. I've seen far worse wounds in my lifetime, so Gaara should be able to make a complete recovery.

That injury is probably not the only thing troubling Gaara though. Even when I get by his bedside, he still looks extremely depressed. He's practically unresponsive considering a slight movement of his eyes is about the only reaction I can see when I enter. I have a feeling Gaara is not going to be the one to start our conversation, so I'd better get to the point quickly. "I really do appreciate you protecting me Gaara, but we're in quite a mess right now. I have to have a meeting with him and the council soon and it doesn't look like it will go well."

"He tried to hurt you." I have never heard Gaara use this tone of voice before. His voice is unusually void of almost any emotion save for a speck of anger that's barely noticeable. Yet that tiny amount of anger sends chills down my spine. "You didn't do any thing to hurt him, but he tried to hurt you and he shot me."

"It's really hurting you isn't it? Don't worry, there is no way I'll let that man so much as lay a finger on you again." A bend down and wrap Gaara in a hug only for him to hiss in pain when I accidentally squeeze his shoulder a little too hard. Pulling away slightly, I attempt to comfort him. "Takeo may have a nasty temper, but there's a reason he still flinches whenever I pick up that old iron fan I gave to Temari."

Usually that sort of comment could make even Gaara crack a smile, but not today. "I just don't understand why he'd even try to hurt you to begin with. You never meant to upset him. It sounded like you hadn't even meant to have me." Before I can even begin responding to that last statement, Gaara counters it for me. "I may have been an accident, but at least you love me. You always have."

At this statement, Gaara seems to relax a little. At least one member of my family isn't taking this whole mess the wrong way. Now I just need to hope Gaara and his father will be able to come to terms just as easily. "You're right; I did not mean to hurt Takeo. But I did, even if I hadn't intended to. You see, the body is not the only thing that can be injured." At this Gaara can't keep himself from getting curious. He's even biting his lip the exact same way as his father used to when he was thinking hard about something.

"I know Yashamaru told you all about physical wounds. Most can be healed with medicine though some can't be treated and others cause death. But the heart can be hurt too. That can be harder to see though since people tend to hide that particular kind of wound. They can be caused by anything that can upset someone, so these wounds can be small though they tend to be enormous. The main problem with them is they only have one cure- love. In Takeo's case, he has already been receiving love from you, me, Temari, and Kankuro. He's just too upset to realize that yet and until he knows he is loved, he will be suffering quite a bit. I'll be the first to admit he never should have attacked us, but sometimes people just can't act like themselves when they've been hurt this badly."

Glancing over at the clock, I notice that the meeting starts in five minutes. Gaara tells me he understands and tells me not to worry about him. "I can just practice with my sand while you're gone." With that, he carefully flicks his fingers a few times and shapes about a handful of sand into a bird. With the first grin I've seen on him all day, Gaara waves me out the door.

As I stride down the hallway, I have enough time to sneak one last peek into Gaara's room. As the tiny bird flutters about Gaara's head a few times, I can't help but wonder why anyone could believe that child is a monster. The very last thing I see before I race towards the meeting is the sand creation fluttering almost silently out the window with something clasped tightly within its beak. I have no time to consider this strange occurrence before I practically slam the council room's door clear off its hinges. After sending out a sufficient number of glares to hopefully terrify half of the men in the room, I take my seat next to the man who nearly smacked me in the face and landed my son in the hospital and wait for the verbal warfare to begin.


	19. Confrontation

I don't know what scares me more, the fact that most of the council members don't seem nervous for once or the fact that Takeo hasn't stopped clenching his new gold dust hand into a fist since I stepped into this room. The meeting even starts without the usual routine of council members bribing each other to speak to me first. It almost feels odd not to hear coins being exchanged before anyone speaks. "As you all know, the demon host has dared to attack our kazekage. Luckily no fatal injuries were inflicted, but now our leader has lost an entire hand. If this isn't a sure sign that we should do away with that monster, I don't know what is."

These men sure know how to slant their facts. "Gaara did not attack Takeo without being provokes. Takeo had ambushed my and was about to hit me before Gaara intervened. Gaara was simply trying to protect me. Though it is a shame my husband lost a hand, Gaara would not have crushed it if Takeo hadn't shot him. Who wouldn't react that way when they're never been physically injured before."

Takeo's frown deepens with every word I say. These meeting were already nasty before, but now I probably won't get any support. "That's not the only issue at hand. That damn runt isn't even my son. Cheating on me is horrible enough, but now the village's last hope is in the body of a mentally unstable kid with no connections to me whatsoever. That's not the worst part either. That child is related to one of the most dangerous rogue ninjas alive- Sasori."

If I wasn't in such a dire situation, Takeo probably would be pinned to the floor right now for even saying half of those comments. As it is, I have to struggle to keep my voice as level as possible. "That is a child you are talking about. Anyone his age does would make mistakes; he will learn from his. As for Sasori, I was drunk. Though I do regret cheating on you, I will never consider Gaara a mistake. None of my children are mistakes are my eyes." I let a good amount of venom into my voice for my final statement. Takeo needs to learn to listen to people after all. "It sure seems like my choice of husband was a mistake though."

Takeo's eyes widen and a large vein displays itself prominently on his forehead. "How dare you speak to me like that! I am your leader!" Takeo slams his fist into the table. As the gold crashes into the stone, multiple large cracks appear. Nobody dares to speak another word for fear of further angering my husband. With a snarl, he storms out of the room and possibly even out of the entire building.

Moments pass before a single man dares to break the silence though even then his voice sounds timid and weak. "Perhaps you should go after him. Yashamaru should suffice as your substitute." That has to be the closest thing to kindness anyone of these men has ever shown me. With a quick nod of thanks, I begin searching for my husband. Failing to find him in the building, I instead find him on it. And he is not alone.

After I sneak close enough to see and hear the whole situation, I notice two people are with Takeo. One of them is Sasori, the other one seems to be a man. The only way I can tell that is because Yashamaru is a bit on the womanly side himself so I'm used to seeing unusual men. I seem to have missed a few minutes of their conversation. The first thing I notice is Sasori handing his oversized cloak to the feminine man. Then Sasori and Takeo establish sound proof chakra barriers before they enter combat stances.

The fight almost seems like a spar at first. The two men continually dodge each others moves at high speeds. The young stranger, I'm guessing he's Sasori's partner, cheers Sasori on. I doubt Sasori can here him at all right now, but he is an amusing fellow. "Kick him in the nuts, un!" I don't think Sasori needed that particular suggestion, but at least I might get some context clues off of this guy. Even if I don't, I can always tease Sasori about his one man cheerleading squad.

Sasori and Takeo jab at each other for ten minutes before either of them lands a hit. Sasori manages to give Takeo one nasty black eye before he can block it. The situation worsens rapidly from there. Sasori goes out of his way to pound Takeo's shoulder. Takeo seizes his chance and slams his golden fist hard into Sasori's ribs. Sasori doubles over in pain and fails to prevent an onslaught of blows. Even Sasori's friend seems concerned know. At first I figured the two men might avoid killing each other because of me, but now it seems like nothing can stop them NOW.

Takeo begins pummeling Sasori's defenseless and already sore chest relentlessly. With every punch, he yells something at his victim. Apparently he managed to cross the line since Sasori yells right back at him. With a murderous expression, Sasori lunges with all of his might at Takeo. After slamming my husbands head into the roof so hard that I can feel a few vibrations where I'm standing, Sasori slams Takeo into the chakra shield that it breaks. Now even Sasori's partner is covering his eyes in fear. Hopefully I should be able to get those two knuckleheads to knock it off the same way I did when I was younger. Taking in a deep breath and stepping into view, I bellow at the combatants. "If you two won't cut it out right now, I'm going to give you such a beating that you'll think Shukaku is a kitten compared to me!"

It's hard to tell whether what I yelled or my volume scared the men more, but the effect was still good enough. Sasori's eyes bulge halfway out of his head and Takeo lets out a high pitched scream and lands in his arms. With a disgusted grimace, Sasori drops Takeo only to have a full grown man land right on his foot. After Takeo recovers from the shock, Sasori stops jumping around trying to ease his pain, and the still unnamed man managed to resist baying with laughter after a few moments, I finally get another word in. "What in the world are you doing?"

Sasori's friend speaks up before the other men even open their mouths. "Sasori said something about some kid getting hurt by some pathetic excuse for a kage." Takeo growls in agitation at this remark though Sasori just rolls his eyes. Apparently this is a typical response in his opinion.

Takeo manages to calm down enough to speak relatively reasonably. Sort of. "I don't know why you had to summon a few clones Karura, but you sure missed a lot. Sasori and his girlfriend over here showed up out of nowhere and started threatening me."

"HE is NOT my girlfriend!" Sasori screams before the other man can defend his own reputation. "Deidara and I may be partners, but there is nothing sexual about that relationship. You have no right to even speak right now anyway. I always knew you weren't the sharpest kunai in the holster, but attacking that kid was stupid, even for you."

Takeo points emphatically al his new hand. "That kid's no saint. I still have months to go before y chakra paths will fully reconstruct around this thing. Besides, that kid's birth alone broke quite a few laws. You wouldn't understand since you were never betrayed by the only woman you ever loved."

I half expect Sasori to slap Takeo but instead his eyes soften a bit. He gently dismisses Deidara off to their hideout so that he can speak in peace. "I don't know exactly what that feels like. But I have been through something similar." He looks at me out of the corner of his eye as he quietly continues. "There was only one reason I didn't take Karura with me when I left the village: she loved you. She still does too." Sasori's nearly crying now. "I have loved her for my entire life, but I went years before telling her since I knew where her heart was. When I finally did tell her, she was too drunk to know what she was doing. I'll admit Gaara was an accident on her part; even I never thought I'd get her pregnant. But my opinion will never change. I know I should have confessed my feelings sooner, but I'm glad I don't have to lie any more."

Takeo looks like he just had a heart attack. He opens and closes his mouth a few times, but his response takes its time coming. "So she really didn't mean to cheat on me." He pauses for a moment. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you two. Karura, you lied to my face for years. Sasori, you're a rogue who has put me in quite the pickle. Now the council and the daimyo will never respect me again."

With a sly grin, Sasori proposes a plan. "You know how easily bribed greedy men are. I'm not supposed to reveal any info about Kakuzu's money stashes, so let's just say you should not head to a cave fifty miles to the east of here. That should buy you a clean slate, if you get my drift."

Takeo can't help himself from smirking. Sasori always did come up with clever plans. "I'll remember that. I obviously can't have you around here often, but perhaps I just might turn a blind eye once in a while."

"Thank you. I know my group will become very busy in a few years with some sort of massive scheme that nobody has been told about yet, but I'll drop by when I can. Don't worry about Gaara by the way. I'm sure I can get him to understand the situation some day." With that, Sasori departs in a flash. Takeo leans on me for support as he staggers back to the meeting room. He still seems pretty ticked off, but at least now he shouldn't be inclined towards any assassination attempts on children.

The meeting just appears to be ending as we reenter the room. Yashamaru's smile only relieves me for a moment though. "It's okay, sis. Gaara won't be in any danger now that I've explained everything. Sasori will learn the full consequences of raping you as soon as the ANBU catch him." Oh crap.


	20. Family Reunion

It has been a few days since Takeo and Sasori beat each other up yet Takeo still hasn't recovered completely. That huge concussion Sasori gave him is gone for the most part though. He just can't seem to ditch one monster of a headache. I can't say that surprises me much since he still has a lot of explaining to do to the kids. Neither of us has really had alone time with them recently since we're been busy getting the council to keep from mentioning Sasori to anyone. Thanks to my dear brother, the village will probably be missing another dozen or so ANBU before we get the whole mess cleared up. At least Gaara seems to be in the clear now.

The doctors just let him come home this morning even though he was feeling back to normal yesterday. I guess they were checking to make sure Shukaku wouldn't try to sneak his way out, but part of me thinks that everyone's afraid of how Gaara and Takeo will react to each other. For once, I feel the same way. Takeo may have stopped threatening to send assassins, but he's barely been talking to me at all. I don't think he has even seen Gaara since he shot him, so he doesn't seem to be in a completely forgiving mood towards anybody. At least now that we both get to go home for more than just sleeping Takeo and I should be able to start sorting this issue out with all of the kids.

When the two of us finally drag ourselves through the door, the first thing we see is Atami pacing in front of Temari and Kankuro with so much of his fur raised that he looks like the world's fluffiest pillow. The second he notices Takeo, Atami whips around and nearly deafens everybody in the room with an enormous growl. "How dare you show your face around here you rat hearted traitor!"

Atami is practically showering us with spit as he can't stop himself from hissing loudly at every other word. "I lived on the streets for most of my life, but I've never even seen alley cats stoop so low. You should be ashamed of yourself! Hurting a kid like that and threatening your own mate… you make me want to hack a hairball." With a disdainful snort, Atami lifts his head and tail high, scrapes his back paws on the floor in either a litter box related gesture or an attempt to word off evil, and marches out of the room.

After mumbling something about a world full of disrespectful runts, Takeo stalks off to his study to file a couple papers from the latest council meetings. Both Temari and Kankuro look as shocked as I feel about seeing a cat tell of a kage. "How long has he been acting like this?"

As usual, Temari has delegated herself to explain the situation to me. At least some things haven't changed around here. "It's been about a week now. It was actually worse earlier. I don't think Dad's going to be happy to see what Atami did to his bed or half of his papers." Neither of my children can resist a nervous chuckle at that image. Something tells me I'm going to need a lot of deodorant for Takeo's belongings. "Was he telling the truth about Gaara and Sasori?"

Apparently Sasori's not the only one Gaara has been sending messages to lately. "I don't know what said about those two, but your father is still pretty mad at me. I think Gaara should be safe now, but Sasori is having a bit of an ANBU problem at the moment. You can blame your uncle for that though; his idea of defending me sort of got out of hand."

This is apparently not the information my elder two children wanted to know. For once, Kankuro doesn't even bother waiting for his sister to handle the problem either. "We already heard about that. What we don't understand is how you could betray Dad like that. You didn't even stop Gaara from crushing his hand, so it's no wonder he was so depressed when we saw him in the hospital. Between that and the fact you barely seem to spend time with us anymore, it's pretty safe to say we'd all be happier if Gaara had never been born! He's not even our brother!"

And here I was thinking none of my children had inherited Takeo's insensitive mouth. Gaara has enough top deal with without his own family wanting him dead. "Don't you ever talk about Gaara like that again! For your information, your father was trying to kill me. If Gaara hadn't stopped him, I'd probably be dead right now. As it is, Sasori is the only one besides Gaara who seems to understand me anymore and at this rate he's probably planning to take Gaara out of the village right now!" It feels like I can't speak to anyone without being criticized now. Before I have to put up with any more complaints, I'd better go see if my youngest son is alright.

Just a few yards from Gaara's room, I find Takeo using his Third Eye technique to check on Gaara without scaring him to death. Motioning for me to stay quiet, he uses a little bit of gold dust to form a small pool to display what the jutsu is revealing. Takeo never did perfect any method of adding audio to the images, but this is better than nothing.

Once the image appears, I see Gaara sitting bed with Atami next to him. They appear to be whispering to each other, probably about Takeo. Atami gently rubs his head into Gaara's shoulder before giving him a few tiny licks. This seems to be cheering up a little as he smiles and rubs Atami's back in turn.

After a few more minutes of similar adorable moments, the two appear to notice a sound outside. After Gaara carefully opens the window, Sasori crawls through the window into the room. He is immediately hugged by Gaara before Atami comes over and begins rubbing Sasori's knees so hard he almost falls over. After wincing and rubbing his seemingly still sore ribs a few times, Sasori sits down on Gaara's bed and hoists him into his lap.

At this point, Sasori begins whispering something t Gaara in a hushed voice. After he finishes his nearly silent speech, Gaara starts looking about twice as worried as he was earlier. With a few brief words, a couple gestures, and an amused chuckle, Sasori manages to reassure Gaara. Sasori prepares to depart, but a few words from Gaara have him guiltily turn back around. Looking straight into Takeo's gold dust eye for a moment, Sasori mouths a brief, "Sorry" before he returns to his position on Gaara's bed.

I don't know exactly what that apology was for, but at least Gaara is getting some comfort from somewhere. After he releases the jutsu, Takeo pauses for a moment outside Gaara's room. His hand reaches halfway to the doorknob before he hesitates and pulls it back. With a flick of his head, Takeo indicates that we had better head to bed ourselves. As much as I'd love to see him make up with Gaara, I think Takeo needs a good night's rest before he opens that can of worms.


	21. Of Weasels and Snakes

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get the council from sending ANBU members after Sasori yet. It's a miracle none of the kids have seen exactly what Sasori has been doing to his assassins. He appears to have been making their deaths quick, but they don't seem painless. Blood is found splattered all over the roof way too often now. On top of that, Sasori has taken to leaving the heads of his pursuers right in front of the houses of the council members. I'm sure Sasori could deal with anyone sent after him, but I'm worried that one of those ANBU will go after the kids to try and force Sasori into surrendering.

Since the council has already tried to get one of my children killed, it couldn't hurt to take a few extra precautions. Atami's training is going well, but he doesn't know any actual jutsu yet. Even if he did, he has been getting more and more sidetracked by those alley cats. Thankfully, a little weaseling was all I had to do to convince Kamatari to create his summoning contract with Temari early. The only downside is that I'll never be able to summon him again once Temari signs the contract. Though I know Kamatari wouldn't mind having multiple summoners, ninja weasels have very specific rules they must obey in order to be summoned. Not only are they exclusively used by only a small handful of families, but each weasel is required to have only one summoner at a time due to the strain of the war against the ninja snakes. The snakes don't abide by that rule; they prefer to demand human sacrifices. I'll take noble weasels over malicious snakes any day.

After a short ride on my shoulder and brief introductions to my children and Atami, Kamatari prepares his new contract. It's safe to say young children are not taught to summon animals except in special circumstances for a reason: those darn contracts take forever to go through. At least Kamatari has the decency to summarize that enormous scroll. "Most of this is just a long code of honor. I know that humans are taught principles like respect for comrades and things like that practically from birth, so that covers a large amount of this. A lot of the rest involves any needs I might have for extended stays with you though your mother can fill you in on those details another time. The only parts of this that you might not know are weasel laws and restrictions."

With a few deft brush strokes on a separate piece of paper, Kamatari attempted to illustrate the war with the snakes. I know weasels can't be expected to draw well, but I still think that Kamatari had better not try making anything important like maps anytime soon. His finished drawing literally looks like something Gaara drew when he was either three or four years old. "My kind has been at war with the serpents for decades. Because of this, we are not as readily available as other summoning species such as dogs or toads. Only a few of us are allowed to be summoned to ensure an adequate number of troops and even then the few of us who have human partners may be forced to participate in the war if things start going poorly. Besides that issue, this contract really shouldn't worry you much. Now all you have to do is sign the blood oath signature."

Using the tip of his scythe, Kamatari gently punctured one of his paws before signing the contract. It's a good thing Temari takes after me quite a bit; most girls would freak out at the thought of having to injure themselves. How we ever get any decent female shinobi is beyond me since most of the girls in this village can barely stand pricking their fingers once to save lives later. After helping Temari prick her finger so as to avoid any accidental slicing, Kamatari nods his approval as she signs her own name. Just as Kamatari prepares to leave, Atami speaks up. "Though it does sound like you have quite the war going on wherever you live, you really should stay here for the night. No need to exhaust yourself by teleporting all over the place only to have to go fight some more. It's more sensible to rest now and go home in the morning."

Kamatari considers Atami's suggestion before giving the cat one of his rare smiles. "That's a good point. I take it you have been well trained here then? It's good to know Karura has passed on her gift for mentoring to her children. If what she said about what you guys have been through is true, we'll need all the skills we can get." It's really hard to tell if Kamatari was teasing me with that mentoring comment or not. Then again, he always did get a kick out of seeing Baki getting trained half way to death. He was pretty disappointed when Baki specialized in short range jutsu, but now he'll be able to help me make Temari the perfect long range specialist. Now that Temari has both Kamatari and Baki, Kankuro has Chiyo, and Gaara has Sasori, none of my children could hope for better teachers. After watching Kamatari demonstrate a couple of his techniques for the rest of the day, both Takeo and I have no trouble sleeping once we get in bed.

After what seems like only a few minutes later, I hear almost inaudible noises right next to the bed. I try squeezing my eyes tighter to force myself to keep sleeping, but the noises only get louder. Eventually, the noises are joined by gentle taps to my side. Of all the damn nights for Takeo to start suggesting we try for more kids again, it just had to be this one. Why would a man suddenly go from avoiding me often to getting romantic again overnight anyway? After a few more minute of fingers jabbing me in the side, a voice half whispers and half yells at me, "Mom!"

At that, my eyes fly open to see Gaara standing right next to the bed. Apparently I wasn't the only one woken up as Takeo is now making noises like an angry bear while he rubs his eyes in a sad attempt to get fully awake. His half asleep glare in our direction fades quickly once Gaara explains what he's doing in our room. "I was just going to my room to go grab a book, but then I saw a bunch of snakes in there!" After waking Kamatari up, Takeo and I follow Gaara until he points at a group of five snakes slithering in his room.

With a small gesture, Kamatari signals for me to cover Gaara's eyes before the slaughter begins. With a battle cry, Kamatari tears into the room and slices four of the snakes until they are nothing but small, bloody heaps. The last snake, a large king cobra, proves to take longer to incapacitate. After dodging multiple rapid lunges and missing a few strikes himself, Kamatari finally jabs a paw into a pressure point of the snakes back to paralyze it. He lifts his scythe up and assumes a ceremonial gutting position reserved for prisoners of war that may refuse to divulge information. "Who sent you? Speak and you shall be spared; remain silent and I shall carve you into a thousand pieces."

Leave it to Kamatari to scare a snake until it begs for mercy. "I was sent by my master, the daimyo to do away with two problems of his. One is the criminal Sasori and the other is the one they call the demon spawn of the desert, Gaara. Both pose serious threats to the wellbeing of this village and must be exterminated at all costs."

Rage flashes through Kamatari's eyes. For once, I won't be the one to teach people manners when referring to my son. In a flash, Kamatari slashes one of the snake's eyes and renders it useless. The snake hisses violently in pain before Kamatari gives it his mandate. "Tell your master that I, Kamatari, shall forever protect the friends and family of my former master Karura from scum like you until the day I die." Picking up the intruder in his jaws, Kamatari salutes me before teleporting away to drop off the snake to his master. Not only will the daimyo learn a valuable lesson from this, but Takeo appears to be recovering his wits a little. Seeing the carnage which will require quite a while to clean up, he allows Gaara to stay in our room for the night. He may have been reluctant about it and he might have shoved himself halfway of the bed to avoid touching Gaara, but at least he's a bit closer to acting like his old self.


	22. New Arrangements

After months of intense training, Atami has insisted to go after Shiva. His taijutsu has greatly improved, but he doesn't know any ninjutsu or genjutsu yet since we haven't been able to find any scrolls regarding training ninja cats in the archives. This might be a good thing since I'd rather avoid looking for maimed feline body parts besides cleaning up any leftover blood splatters. Though no assassins have been sent after either Gaara or Sasori recently, Sasori decapitated quite a few ANBU members after he found out about the snakes. Atami seems to be trying to outdo Sasori's torture methods considering he threatened to shave Shiva with his claws, neuter him, and bite his tail off all in the course of five minutes.

Atami specifically told us not to interfere in the fight no matter what we saw though he insisted that all of us watch him beat his enemy into a bloody pulp. To be honest, his pre-battle preparations were enough of a turn off. The only vaguely normal part of the process was Atami sharpening his claws, but even that made Takeo seriously consider hiring a psychiatrist for Atami. Training dummies are always prone to heavy damage, but the one shaped like Shiva is now just a pile of sawdust. Things only went downhill from there. After thoroughly remarking his territory (I never want to know exactly how many extra water rations that cat drank to mark so many buildings), Atami started trying to lure Shiva out. After half an hour of ceaseless yowling and hissing, Shiva finally showed up.

It is not hard to imagine how Shiva beat Atami. That white cat's muscles could have put even some of the strongest taijutsu masters to shame. Every time he moves, I can see countless muscles rippling beneath his fur. If it wasn't for the rest of his appearance being pretty normal, I would have guessed that Shiva only ate soldier pills. As it is, I bet he is on some kind of steroids. Maybe he used to be a ninja cat for another village.

With a clearly miffed meow, Shiva greets Atami. Not in the mood to bother conversing, Atami simply hisses in response, unsheathes his claws, shows his teeth, and lashes his tail. With a deep throated growl, Shiva crouched down into a combat position. Moments later, the combatants spring at each other. Digging his claws deep into Shiva's shoulder, Atami tries to disable his opponent as soon as possible. Shiva beat him off with a few quick swipes to his face. The cats exchange similar blows back and forth for a while as they create quite a caterwaul of hisses, yowls, and growls. Though Shiva even managed to pin Atami for a few moments, our fearless and possibly crazy ninja cat never stayed down for long. Growing tired of the rapid exchanges of scratches and bites, Shiva finally launches himself straight at Atami's throat. Seizing his chance, Atami quickly slams his full weight into his rival to send him crashing into the wall.

With a choked off yowl of rage and a loud thud, Shiva hits the wall. After his body dropped back to the ground, Atami carefully gave him a small sniff. Lifting his head high, Atami yowls out the news of his rival's death for the whole village to hear. A quiet, timid mew causes Atami to desert the corpse which now clearly shows a dark splotch of dark red blood where Shiva's head smashed into the wall. A sleek, light brown female cat pokes her head out of the shadows. Upon making eye contact, Atami and the new cat rush at each other before erupting into a huge purring fit. So this must be Neko, the cat whom Atami had practically never stopped talking about when he wasn't plotting Shiva's demise.

After their little love fest ends, Atami and Neko meow at each other for a few minutes. Neko seems to try and get Atami to return to their little feral society, but Atami is not even close to interested. Glancing in Gaara's general direction for a moment, Atami tries to explain his situation to his best feline friend. Finally prying her eyes away from Atami, Neko finally notices us. After bounding over to the window we have been observing the cats through, the two cats jump right inside. After briefly rubbing Gaara in an attempt to thank him, Neko sits down at Takeo's feet and starts trying to hypnotize him with one very adorable look.

As incapable of reading mind or understanding cat language as anyone else in the village, Takeo is forced to look to Atami to translate. With a slightly shy look and possibly a light blush beneath his fur, Atami complies. "She wants to know if she can become a ninja cat too and live in this house as my mate." Now that explains why Atami always got a little tongue tied and distracted whenever he mentioned Neko. Realizing the female would just stay around the house if refused entry, Takeo had no choice but to relent.

"Just try not to fill the village with too many kittens until we finish fine tuning the ninja cat program, okay?" The two cats readily agreed. Within moments, Atami had already started showing Neko around her new home. As soon as the lovers finally got out of sight, Takeo revealed a plan we'd been discussing for years. With a spark of pride in his eyes that has been quite scarce for ages now, he broke the news to the kids.

"Though teams are not usually formed until children officially become genin, you will all begin training with your sensei early due to the high amounts of assassins which have been spotted and eliminated recently. Though you all must still attend the Academy until you formally graduate, you will all have to report to Baki for two hours of training every weekday after your time at the Academy plus an additional four to five hours of training during every Saturday and Sunday. It will be a lot of work; each of you will probably be exhausted after each training session. But I am sure all three of you will come that much better off for it." All three kids launch themselves at Takeo and hug him with all their strength until he can has to gasp for breath. Even Gaara seems happier now that he will be able to show all of the jutsu he already knows to his siblings. I doubt any of my children will be so enthusiastic if Baki trains them even half as hard as I trained him, but I think we'll all feel safer once the children can get rid of assassins on their own. Besides, training will help the kids become even more powerful genin. Perhaps Sasori, Takeo, and I will even have to consider them our superiors one day if we are lucky enough.


	23. The Immigrant

Over the past few years, the children have been extensively trained. Besides training with Baki, they also have their own special training regiments. Chiyo and Sasori help train Kankuro though they have yet to do that together. Sasori is still afraid of being beaten within an inch of his life by his own grandmother for not living with his son, but honestly I think he would mainly be in danger of back breaking hugs. Either way, he hasn't been around much for about a month or so thanks to that organization of his. Apparently their leader is going to send everyone on important missions within the next year though Sasori doesn't know what they entail. As for Temari, I have been helping her learn more long distance techniques. Gaara actually does most of his extra training on his own now that his chakra control has become so advanced. Since Takeo is planning an invasion for the chunin exams (they are only about two months away), Gaara is trying to learn some spying techniques. I wouldn't mind knowing a few of those myself at the moment. Orochimaru does not seem the least bit trustworthy to me since his best shinobi all seem to be freaks of nature and/or experiments. I haven't mentioned that particular plot to Sasori yet, but Kamatari has outright refused to help with the invasion. Apparently Orochimaru is a "filthy snake using criminal".

Unfortunately, Takeo is still as hard headed as ever about his decisions. I did manage to convince him to employ a few body guards for the time being though. I just wish we had more sensor specialists. Atami and Neko are unfortunately out of the question since they are expecting kittens now. Neko is too pregnant to consider fighting and Atami is a huge worrywart. He has been trying to kitten proof the house and keep his wife comfortable 24/7. He's getting so paranoid that he almost screamed when a gain of sand touched Neko yesterday. We live in a desert with the host of a sand demon for crying out loud! What's next, is he going to complain about the air being too dry? At least those kittens will lighten the mood once their born. I really need some stress relief before I snap.

After yet another failed attempt to get Takeo to break off his alliance with Orochimaru, the two of us hear a light knock on the door. Temari is polishing her fan, Kankuro is tinkering with his puppets, and Gaara is meditating, so this is probably another message for my husband. He is going to get buried in a pile of that paperwork one day if he keeps this up. Once the door opens we see a young girl about Gaara's age with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a rather large brown female tabby cat. Her clothes are torn in many places and even her backpack looks like it has been given a sound beating. "Excuse me, is this kazekage's house? I need to speak with him as soon as possible."

Takeo introduces us and invites the girl and her cat inside. After we get the two to settle down, the girl explains their situation. "My name is Kira and this fuzz ball is Riu. The two of us have come from the Land of Ashes. It is pretty far to the northeast, so I doubt you have heard of it. Anyway, the two of us ran away since we were being abused there and we were wondering if we could become shinobi here. I know many fire jutsu while Riu knows some sound based ninjutsu and a handful of genjutsu."

These two must have been desperate to run all the way here. They look like they have been wandering for quite some time. I've never heard of the Land of Ashes, but it sounds pretty unpleasant. Still, why would they run so far away? Takeo decides to take control of the conversation since he has to deal with immigrants all the time. "You two look young. What could have made you leave your homes without any help or even a less harsh destination? You probably could have just gotten your leader's help."

This time it is Riu who answers. "The leader was the problem. We tried to reason with him, but he never listens to anyone. Kira is his only child and she can't even get near him without something horrible happening." Kira winces at the mere mention of her father. "We didn't even live with him. Almost nobody was nice to us thanks to that monster. That tyrant gave both of us so many scars that even Tsunade had trouble healing some of them." Of course they have to drag the slug summoner into this. I'd better not mention this to Chiyo. "And for your information, we weren't alone! At least... we weren't at first."

They seem to be telling the truth, but something feels off. Something tells me we'll be lucky to get half the story. "If the leader really was as awful as you say, wouldn't we have heard about it? There at least should have been a rebellion and those things tend to become very well known quickly."

Riu attempts to continue, but Kira cuts her off with a silencing gesture. When the cat gives her a dirty look she just sighs and shakes her head. "We can't keep avoiding those details. Show them." Riu groans before unsheathing her claws or at least the ones that are left. Her front two paws have no claws and appear to be somewhat disfigured. The toes on those paws all seem damaged so that the pockets were the claws would slide out are torn. Kira gestures to the injuries. "My father did that to her the week before we left. As for the rebellion, there is a war in the Land of Ashes. The two dominant clans there, the fire users like myself and the metal users have been at odds for generations. Twelve years ago, a metal using woman and a fire using male had a pact that the conflict would end if their firstborn child was a suitable heir. Unfortunately, my father was unsatisfied with me in more ways than one. He had wanted a male heir to take his place. He tried to make me more like him so that so called flaw could be overlooked, but the jutsu proved to be incomplete."

"When I was five years old, my father chased my mother out of the Land of Ashes and began a full fledged war once he returned. He only let me live with a peaceful metal controlling family since he could barely stand me. My foster parents, an iron user and silver user raised me from then on. As weapon smiths, they lived prosperously. They forged and sold their wares behind my fathers back and even let me adopt the runt of the litter that a ninja cat had given birth to near the local fish market." Kira smiled fondly at the now gently purring Riu. "We lived happily for a long time. Then my father broke into the forge two years ago. He ripped Riu's claws out with his bare hands, thrashed my caregivers, and slammed me into the wall. Once I woke up, everyone had already packed up some supplies and prepared to leave. We set out that morning and decided to come hear since my father would never journey so far from his domain. The assassins he sent after us on the other hand didn't mind traveling. They killed my foster parents, but I destroyed them. All I have left now is what you see here and the hope that I will be able to dethrone that demon one day."

By the end of the narrative, Kira had started crying a bit and Riu was staring at her paws. Takeo and I shared a glance. There is no way I'm letting these two go back out there on their own. Takeo can register them as shinobi later, but right now they need to rest. "Leave your backpack here. We'll need to log your possessions before we can register you two. We'll test your skills tomorrow and if you're lucky we might be able to get you on a team before the chunin exams. We'll have to start you off as genin since you're new to the village, but that doesn't mean we can't let you get a higher rank quickly, assuming you are skilled enough. You can stay in Gaara's room for the night if you want. It's down the hall to the left." As Kira and Riu start heading for their temporary quarters, Takeo opens the backpack and begins browsing what appears to be a journal. With a shooing motion, he tells me to go make sure our guests settle in nicely.

By the time I get close enough to Gaara's room to peek inside unseen, Kira and Gaara are sitting on the bed with Riu already snoozing near the other two felines. "You can stop pretending you know. Just because you just got here doesn't mean you have to hide your feelings about me. Nobody else bothers to."

Kira looks utterly confused. She must not have been joking about how badly she was treated. "Why would I lie to you? We just met. If anything you're kidding about not minding me. I'm the daughter of a tyrant. You just have a demon crammed inside of you." Gaara's eyes widen. His mouth is half way open and he just can't seem to say anything. "I mean, what's so scary about a demon host? Demons are nasty, but that doesn't mean the people that contain them are. If anything, being a demon host must be painful since you have to deal with a voice in your head all the time."

"It is painful, but the demon isn't the worst part. Only my family likes me. Everyone else thinks I'm either a monster or a weapon. A soulless creature with no purpose but to kill." With a sudden movement, Kira wraps her arms around Gaara and gives him a quick hug. Gaara's body tenses so much that Kira lets go almost immediately. "What was that for?"

"You needed it. I know how you feel too. My father just saw me as a failed attempt to solidify an alliance and increase his power. Almost everyone else where I used to live saw me as demon spawn. You seem different though." Kira yawns loudly before she can stop herself. "Sorry about that, I haven't even seen a bed in weeks. I'll see you in the morning Gaara. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." With that Gaara made his way over to the window and slipped out side to watch the stars. I don't care if most teams only have three students; this girl is too considerate to stick with two random genin. Besides, both Gaara and Kira seem like they could use the support. Good thing being the wife of the kazekage let's me have a bit of influence on situations like this every once in a while.


	24. Lit Fuses

After Kira fills out a stack load of paperwork to put on record, Takeo tells me that we have to take her to get interrogated by the council. Yashamaru and Baki will also have to be there since we have a few details about the invasion to discuss. After we leave the children at home with the cats and make it to the meeting room, Takeo hands out files full of information about Kira to everyone. We all skim through the pages to gather any important information before we even begin assessing whether or not Kira is ready to be made an official Suna ninja. I don't know all of what Takeo read in that girl's journal, but Kira appears to have encountered Orochimaru before. Why is it that everyone seems to know that snake of a man anyway?

With little hesitation, one of the younger members of the council immediately asks about some of the more concerning tidbits. "Why would a girl like you get taken to see Orochimaru? These documents seem to avoid mentioning that important detail. Also, how can we trust you if you have already deserted a village before? For all we know you could just be trying to stir up trouble. It certainly isn't unheard of for men to send in children to infiltrate enemy villages in search of secrets."

After grimacing a little upon hearing Orochimaru's name, Kira attempts to explain herself. "When I was about six years old, my father dragged me to see Orochimaru. Apparently my father had promised him some information about Ryuchi Cave in exchange for sealing some of his chakra into me. Long story short, I passed out after Orochimaru forced some red haired man wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it to shove part of my father's chakra into me. That chakra still did not turn me into the heir my father wanted, but I'm stuck with it anyway. Trying to remove it would be tricky though. That red haired man sealed it deep into my chakra system and basically told me the morning before my father took me away again that removing that chakra would leave me crippled even in the best case scenario. As for you trusting me, I'm a twelve year old with little formal training with most of my ninjutsu being learned to keep my father's jutsu from maiming or killing me. I don't know what else I can say to make you know that I am no threat to you since apparently this village has a way of abusing people with large masses of chakra sealed into them."

I doubt there are any other red haired men travelling with Sasori's group yet it seems odd for him to have been involved in sealing chakra into anyone. Chiyo hadn't had too much time to teach him how to do that before he left. If what Kira's saying is true, then Sasori has dealt with Orochimaru before too. That would explain why he hated mentioning the partner he had before Deidara as well as the snake references, but it just seems fishy. Sasori is usually a good judge of character, so I can't see him working with Orochimaru. The other part of Kira's argument makes sense though. Whatever Gaara told her, she really seemed to pity him. Still, this girl has one messed up past. For a girl that young to be so entangled with such high level ninja is unusual, even if she is a leader's daughter. I just can't shake the feeling that we're missing something though. Kira seems to be a bit smooth tongued for a twelve year old. Either she has excellent self control or she's under someone's orders since most kids would at least look nervous.

One of the older men who has been part of the council for at least as long as Gaara has been alive scowls. From his position next to Kira, he gets up and points an accusatory finger right in her face. "This village has had enough problems for over a decade now. Why we should take in this girl just out of the blue is beyond me. Heck, it took us years to get used to the last mistake our dear leader made about someone with something sealed in him. This girl could be even worse for all we know. She sounds like she was her village's weapon and I-" Kira practically leapt out of her chair and slapped the man hard across his face before anyone could react. With a quick flick of his hand, Takeo restrained Kira and her offender before anymore damage could be done. By the time the gold dust forced the two to sit down a bright red mark had surfaced on the man's face.

"That's enough of that. How are we supposed to assess this girl properly if we provoke her until she slaps people?" The reprimanded council member has the nerve to sneer as Kira glares at him. "As you said, this village is in a state of crisis. But that means we have to take risks. Now I'm not saying I trust Kira, but I think we could use her services. Give her a trial run as it were. If she proves untrustworthy I can dispose of her easily as could the majority of our high ranked shinobi if my analysis of this girl is correct."

For the first time in his life, Baki addresses the council on a matter that isn't centered around Gaara. "As you all know, I am the sensei of Shukaku's host. Over the years Gaara has proven himself repeatedly despite being mistrusted by most of the villagers. I could be mistaken, but I believe that Kira could prove to be a useful comrade as well. Of course, I'm sure she would consent to precautionary measures for the time being until we can truly determine her trustworthiness." Drawing his finder across his throat slowly, Takeo signals to Baki that he has made his point. But that does not keep my former student from continuing. "With the invasion imminent, we will need all of the help we can get to keep Orochimaru in check. We'll have to be especially cautious since Gaara will need to stay safe while he uses Shukaku's form to give us the advantage. We don't need his seal to be tampered with."

Now wait just a damn minute. Whose crazy idea was it to force my son to deal with the full force of Shukaku's wrath when he is only a genin? "What's this about Shukaku's form? I was not informed about this particular part of the plan. Will someone please explain to me why you expect a child to fully control a demon's form in the middle of a hostile village where he will probably be a target without attention being drawn to him?"

With a groan, Takeo decided to enlighten me with his so called infallible logic. "We need Shukaku in order to assure our advantage. It is better to put one boy at risk than dozens of well trained shinobi." Kira rolled her eyes as my husband kept digging himself deeper into a hole. "I understand your concern, but this is what that boy was born for. It's high time he served his purpose. Since Konoha has a demon host of its own, we must be prepared for the worst. If Gaara dies, at least he will die serving his village."

Both Kira and I are glaring at Takeo now. Before either of us can give him the tongue lashing that he's practically begging for plus a few good smacks to the head for good measure, Yashamaru tells us his opinion. "Gaara's chakra control is almost as refined as his father's; perhaps he stands a good chance at controlling Shukaku now." He speeds up as I prepare to protest. "Besides, we won't let anything bad happen to Gaara. I for one am fully prepared to be killed if that's what it takes to keep my youngest nephew safe. You know that, Karura." With a sigh, I withhold my protests. This decision has clearly been finalized already. There is nothing I can do now but do what I can with this insane plan.

Noticeably relieved, Takeo turns to Kira. He slowly and carefully moved the gold dust restraining her away. "I know just what to do with you. You will have to go with me and risk being recognized by Orochimaru, but I will need your prior knowledge of him to prevent any 'accidents' from occurring during our final negotiations as well as the entire course of the invasion. I with have to take measures to keep you from getting any sneaky ideas of your own, but you stand a good chance of being accepted as a citizen of this village should you prove to be more trustworthy than you appear. We shall set out in two weeks' time. Do you accept these terms, Kira?" Kira nods her consent. Takeo condensing some gold dust into thick bands around Kira's wrists and neck loose enough so she won't be hurt but firm enough to prevent her from removing them. With a solemn handshake, Kira and Takeo finalize their agreement. As soon as we return home, Kira goes off to tell Riu the news as I shove Takeo into Gaara's room, close the door, and block the door to prevent Takeo from leaving until he spills the beans to my son. I'll be glad to see the end of that darn invasion so that people will start telling the truth and stop hiding so much important information.


	25. The Attempted Calm before the Storm

The children left for Konoha about two weeks ago while Takeo, Kira, and Riu all left the week before to help Orochimaru organize the invasion. It won't be too much longer before a large number of the shinobi in the village, including Yashamaru and I, have to leave as well. Things have been getting really hectic since we have to be prepared in case a long term war breaks out. The council has already begun stockpiling weapons and any essential goods we might need so that we can avoid rationing things out too quickly. As it is, the village's supply of patience is running dangerously low. Even before my husband and the children left tempers were flaring all over the place.

I haven't seen too much of Kira since she has to be with Takeo at all times now. Before she left with him, I was half expecting Kira to kill some of those council members. They sure do know how to get under people's skin until they snap. They really need to learn how insane it is to say the most offensive things about people. Every time Kira returned from a council meeting a large vein would be bulging on her forehead and the skin on her wrists would be sore from Takeo constantly trying to remind her to keep her mouth shut and her fists down. No wonder she managed to sleep like a rock even when Gaara had to get something or other out of his room.

Believe it or not, Gaara seemed more nervous about the chunin exams than anyone else. I can only imagine how strange it must be for him to be surrounded by people who don't run away like abused puppies when they see him. Temari and Kankuro have been a bit too absorbed in polishing up a few of their stronger techniques to be around for Gaara much. Kamatari may have refused to participate in the invasion personally, but his sparring matches with Temari have helped her more than enough. I have almost never seen Kamatari get tired before, but even he was panting with exhaustion after the last few training sessions he had with Temari. As for Kankuro, he spent the last few days before his departure tinkering with his puppets. When he wasn't trying to install some new hidden compartments or daggers, he was out trying to catch scorpions and tarantulas for fresh venom. Even if they had spent more time with Gaara, I honestly doubt it would have done much good.

Gaara had been acting nervous ever since Takeo told him exactly was his plans were for the chunin exams. The actual exams shouldn't be too hard on Gaara since he has had to deal with the daimyo's assassins before. It will take a lot more than a few genin to scare Gaara. I can tell he's worried about trying to use Shukaku's form though. He tried not to show his nervousness on the outside, but I saw him spending hours with Chiyo discussing nothing but his seal. He even requested all of the sealing scrolls and records about Shukaku that Chiyo could find. Every single night he holed himself up in his room and read those dusty records from the time most people were asleep until dawn. Kira had avoided mentioning her own seal to Gaara much in front of Takeo and I, but I heard her trying to explain it a little bit to Gaara a few times when she thought nobody was listening. She never got too descriptive and I think she relieved herself more than she helped Gaara, but at least my son had someone around who could understand his situation. I still can't keep myself from worrying about Shukaku, but at least Gaara knows what he'll be getting into. Sasori managed to sneak away from his organization for tonight so I can fill him in a little. Maybe he can shed some light on exactly who Kira is and whether or not Orochimaru will backstab us.

It's about midnight at Sasori just now showed up. Judging from his torn cloak and his extremely untidy hair, it looks like he went through a lot to get here at all. As soon as he drags himself inside where we both doubt anyone will here us, Sasori flops down onto the couch. He grins sheepishly after managing to crack many of his joints while stretching out, including what sounded like his spine. "Sorry if I'm a little late, but I had to make quite the speech to come here at all. Thankfully most of the partnerships in my group haven't been given their missions yet, so I can still afford to leave once in a while. I hear that won't last much longer, but I doubt things will get too intense until after the chunin exams blow over. So what is it you needed to talk to me about?"

I'll never understand why Sasori stays with that group if he isn't even sure what they want from him. I can understand that he wants to avoid pissing Takeo off again, but he'd almost be better off going solo at this rate. "There are two people I need some information on and I think you might be familiar with them. One of them is a girl about Gaara's age named Kira. The other is Orochimaru." Sasori's eyes bulge halfway out of his head when I mention Orochimaru. "That Kira girl showed up a while ago asking to be allowed to become a citizen. Takeo is keeping an eye on her. Orochimaru is what really worries me. Takeo formed an alliance with him to attack Konoha during the chunin exams, but I can barely think about that man without getting the chills."

Sasori groans and massages his temples for a minute. Only Takeo can make Sasori that irritated so quickly. "I only met Kira once. She was pretty young at the time, but I still remember her screaming her head off when Orochimaru forced me to seal some of her father's chakra into her. I don't know why Orochimaru had me do it. If Kira's chakra system is still as misshapen as it was after the sealing, I'd keep a close eye on her to make sure nobody gets roasted alive. I don't know how desperate she is now, but I could see her doing almost anything if that meant she could avoid her father. I never saw that man, but his yelling made my ears ring for a week after he dragged his daughter back home." That doesn't help much with deciding if Kira can be trusted or not, but at least part of her story seems to be true.

"As for Orochimaru, even I couldn't trust him and I was stuck with him for years. Deidara may be a loud mouthed brat at times, but I'd take him over that slippery snake any day. He was always preaching about immortality and trying to get his hands on anyone with a bloodline. I have seen what he does to prolong his life and, believe me, it's not pretty. Takeo might not be my idea of a decent person, but even I wouldn't want a psycho like Orochimaru running around in his body." Sasori and I both shudder at that thought. It does sound like Takeo has gotten himself into quite the fix, but he seemed fine before he left. Hopefully he'll live to thank me for insisting upon those bodyguards. "I don't know for certain if he'd target Takeo, but he has quite the taste for gifted shinobi. I've beaten Takeo dozens of times, but he's still nothing to sneeze at. Still, Orochimaru seemed to fancy young men and teenaged boys the most. He's as obsessed with young male bodies as Jiraiya probably still is with young females." Realizing what he just said, Sasori doubles over as he starts laughing for the first time in ages. Forcing himself to regain his composure, he tries to end on a more serious note. "Orochimaru never does anything without trying to help himself somehow. If he thinks Takeo will get in his way, things can and probably will get ugly." Sasori gulps before forcing one last sentence out. "If you want, I could go see if Takeo needs a hand."

I end up nearly crushing Sasori's ribcage as I launch myself onto him for one huge hug. Takeo would have a fit if he saw this, but even he would have to admit it must be tough for Sasori to do this. "Thank you! I know the two of you never got along well, so it really means a lot to me for you to be willing to do this. Maybe now Takeo will finally be able to bury the hatchet with you. Then you could finally come home!" Sasori can barely stutter out his agreement as he tries to avoid fainting. Still, he doesn't protest when I take my time getting off of him. As Sasori makes his way back outside, I can still see a huge, extremely dopey looking grin plastered on his face. Sasori may be one of the more level headed men I know, but even he can be a total goofball sometimes. Oh well, I guess that's one trait that even the most serious men have to display every great once in a while.


	26. The Invasion

Today is the day of the invasion. I'm one of the few Suna shinobi who will be in the stadium where the exam finals will occur. Yashamaru and I are some of the only people from our village Takeo thought wouldn't seem suspicious in the audience since we do have family members in the exams. I know that none of my kids are likely to become chunin thanks to the invasion, but at least I'll get to see a few good fights before things get ugly. It's always interesting to see such young shinobi going all out; especially since the finalists almost always have either powerful bloodlines or jutsu they specialize in. Thankfully we'll be seeing the action well since Baki managed to get us some of the best seats in the whole stadium. He doesn't look too panicky considering exactly what he'll be seeing, but something is definitely bothering him. "Things have been pretty quiet for the most part, but there were some… disappearances. One was the man who was supposed to be hosting these matches. The other one was a genin named Dosu." Judging from the way Baki mentioned the first disappearance, someone almost figured out the plan. As for Dosu, I think Takeo mentioned him being one of the genin in Orochimaru's village. "Nobody has seen Dosu for days. He was supposed to be in the finals too, but there have been rumors that he was found dead. I don't know if this is just an attempt to stir up trouble or what, but I've heard that Dosu's body was found burnt almost beyond recognition in a pile of sand. That's could just be gossip though." From the way Baki says it, I can tell he doesn't think it's gossip. I can tell what he's implying by the sand part, but why would Gaara kill someone? Even if Dosu did try to kill Gaara, that doesn't explain his body being burnt. Before I can ask Baki for more information, the first match begins.

That Neji kid seems pretty full of himself. He is practically preaching to his opponent about fate. Bragging never ends well in these exams. Takeo got away with it for a while, but Sasori really didn't go easy on him in their match. Puppeteers hate being told they play with 'dolls' and Sasori is no exception. Sasori could stop snickering about that match for months afterwards since he used his chakra strings to mess with Takeo. I'll have to admit it was funny to watch, but making a man dance like a ballerina in front of a large crowd is just too harsh. Neji's opponent doesn't look like he's going to fool around. If I'm not mistaken, he looks almost exactly like the last hokage. He sounds just like a red haired woman I saw on missions a few times during the war. Kushina always knew how to scare men to death with that voice of hers. Hosting the nine tailed fox probably helped though. She usually controlled it well, but I did see her use its chakra once. Come to think of it, are those whisker marks on Naruto's cheeks? And Takeo ordered for Gaara to use Shukaku's form to take down that little shrimp? He does seem like he could be gifted, but he doesn't look like his demon will give us any trouble. He does seem really mad at Neji though. It takes him a few minutes, but he eventually manages to beat Neji. Too bad I won't get to see him fight anyone else. That is one unpredictable loud mouth.

Gaara's fight is delayed since his opponent is late. That will delay things a while, but it shouldn't be too bad. From what I've heard about Sasuke, this fight should be worth waiting for. He's one of the last Uchihas and it seems like he's a bit of a crowd favorite. Kankuro withdraws from his match to avoid showing his puppets to everyone, so now most of the crowd is absolutely livid. Amid much screaming and booing, Temari's opponent finally drags himself down to the fighting area. Apparently he's some kind of local genius, but Shikamaru looks half asleep. Even his voice is making people yawn. He's just lucky his jutsu don't require him to move much. Temari tries to keep his jutsu at a distance, but eventually that lazy boy's jutsu catches her. Despite that, Shikamaru gives up. Even if he is nearly out of chakra, Shikamaru probably could have one. Needless to say, the crowd bellows at him. The sad part is that kid's strategy might get him promoted anyway. After a few more minutes of nearly deafening screams calling for Sasuke, the Uchiha finally shows up.

Within moments, Sasuke charges and tries to outrun Gaara's sand. Boy can that kid run! Gaara can barely manage to block his attacks. If the plan was for Gaara to kill Sasuke, I doubt that this would last long. The problem is Gaara has to start transforming during this match. Gaara manages to scrape up Sasuke pretty badly though. Sasuke's chest is quickly covered in dozens of scratches. Most of them aren't too deep, but they will buy Gaara time. Gaara isolates himself into a sand cocoon to initiate the transformation. Then Sasuke starts forming a powerful jutsu of his own. His chakra crackles around his hand as he prepares to charge again. Then, dashing rapidly towards the cocoon, he thrusts his arm into it. After a moment of silence, a horrified scream of pain rips through the air. Moments later, the signal to begin the invasion is given and Gaara reemerges with one hand covering a gaping wound.

As Kabuto sets off a genjutsu to put most of the audience to sleep, Kankuro and Temari quickly flee the arena with their brother. Before I can follow them, Riu comes sprinting through the rows to reach Yashamaru, Baki, and I. Panting and out of breath she forces out her message. "We have to hurry. That damned snake is going to betray a lot more than a few kages at this rate." Glancing at her own torn and slightly singed pelt for a moment, she briefly tries to form a plan. "I think Kira has your husband pretty well backed up, but it sounded like your kids might be targets. I know for a fact that at least one man was sent to kill Gaara. I can create a diversion for a few seconds so we can get out of here since we can't risk any delays now." Riu wiggles her tail around for a few seconds and mumbles a few words under her breath before the arena practically bursts with cats. Riu leads up through the squirming and shrieking illusions as countless Konoha shinobi attempt to fight off the apparitions. After we reach the forest, Riu releases the genjutsu. I can't see Kankuro anywhere. Temari is huddled in a tree looking more terrified than I've ever seen her. As for Gaara, he is already halfway transformed. He is trembling and yelling for some genin to get away from him.

Sasuke appears to be incapacitated by some kind of seal on his neck. Some pink haired girl appears to have been slammed into a tree. I don't know if she's conscious, but I can see that she's covered in bruises and scrapes with a long gash running down her side. She's not moving. The last genin, Naruto, looks torn between terror and confusion. Gaara's sand is thrashing wildly as he clutched his head with his only remaining human hand. Moments later, he emits an unearthly scream that freezes everyone in place. I can just make out Gaara's seal glowing faintly beneath his shirt, pulsing wildly. The demon's markings spread over even more of Gaara's body as he howls in agony. Then, there is a single large explosion of chakra that slams me into a tree trunk and sends both Yashamaru and Baki plummeting to the ground while Riu wraps herself tightly onto the nearest branch. As soon as I can see clearly again, I notice the enormous body of Shukaku standing with the body of my youngest child on his head.

Acting quickly, Naruto forms some hand seals before summoning a giant toad. The summon does not seem cooperative at first. He bombards Naruto with various insults regarding how crazy he is to 'mess with the demon tanuki' as he jumps to avoid multiple blasts of air. Thankfully, he seems to value Naruto's life enough to stick around. He counters Shukaku's jutsu with his own water based techniques. Within minutes, countless trees have been toppled and everyone has received one massive shower. In order to stand a better chance against the drunk sounding and laughing demon, Naruto has the toad transform into the demon fox. Even Shukaku stops laughing once the 'fox' begins attacking him. Naruto manages to land a blow on Gaara's head during the ensuing chaos. The demon's form collapses, leaving everyone terrified but alive. Kankuro reappears as he and Temari retrieve Gaara. The Konoha genin depart quickly enough. Turning towards our designated meeting place for after the invasion, Riu yowls as she just barely sees a long wisp of smoke drifting up from the meeting clearing. Alerted to our presence, the children join our group as we dash of to investigate the apparent disaster.


	27. Aftermath

Thankfully, it seems like all of the children gave at least a little chakra left, but I doubt any of us will be able to fight to long. It's been years since I've actually been involved in a large scale battle before. Baki might have a decent amount of experience since he's been on many missions, but he rarely ever stays away from the general vicinity of the village. As for Yashamaru, he's probably the most prepared person in our whole group since he's part of the ANBU, but most of his jutsu are related to healing. All I know for sure is that the smoke is clearly disturbing Riu. She keeps screaming for us to run faster even though she's already panting for breath herself. By the time we all find the source of the fire, she is dangerously close to making the pads of her paws bleed. I don't know which is more disturbing, the fire in the middle of the clearing, the smell of burning flesh, or the fact that Kira is fighting about a dozen of Orochimaru's subordinates. Either way, I almost don't want to know what has been going on here. Swinging a sword from lord knows where, Kira keeps hacking at her opponents. Though she appears to have killed off a few of her enemies, Kira is not even close to unwounded. Her whole body is nearly covered with bruises and there is a long gash running the length of her right leg. Though Kira is still manages to keep moving, a steady stream of her blood is trickling down her leg and her face is contorted into an expression of nearly blind fury. One of Orochimaru's lackeys suddenly screams, "There's the demon who helped kill Dosu!" leading about half of the group to charge at us.

Still supporting their injured brother, Kankuro and Temari aren't in a good position to counter the onslaught. Within moments, Baki is formed to slash at some of the shinobi while Yashamaru begins grappling with a bulky man with an odd device on his arm. Using too many wind related jutsu here could easily make the fire get out of hand, so I'll have to stick to a more physical approach. As Riu begins a series of feint at one of the older shinobi, I quickly manage to land a strong blow to the back of the man's head. Stunned he tries to wheel around to grab me only for a torrent of flames to hit him right on his side. With thin wisps of smoke still trailing from her mouth, Kira quickly scrambles to avoid being hit in the chest as she prepares to fry more shinobi. After inhaling a large quantity of air, Riu unleashes a shockwave of a scream at some of the younger men who appear to be no older than ten. Soon, I can barely tell who is fighting who as smoke further engulfs the battlefield. I can't see Takeo anywhere, but for now I'll just have to focus on ending this quickly.

Volleys of blows are exchanged as the fight continues. Baki ends up tearing some muscles in his left arm while Kankuro and Temari are forced to join the fight at back up. It is only when a shrill scream pierces the air that I notice any of us getting seriously hurt though. The leading traitor, despite having half of his face singed until it barely looks human, had slammed the device on his arm straight into the side of Yashamaru's face. He then caused an explosion of sound that sent Yashamaru flying smack onto Riu's tail. Nearly deafening everyone else, that cat screams so loudly that the resulting shockwaves send most of the remaining ninja being rammed fatally into the fire. The leader, now alone, makes one last attempt to get at Gaara. He rushes forward screaming all the way until something thunks solidly into his back. He falls over with a thud to reveal a sword protruding from his back and surrounded by an enormous blood stain. As Kira walks over to yank the sword back out, I'm left to check on everyone else. Everyone seems relatively alright until I reach Yashamaru. I have to coax him to remove his hand from his left ear. When he does, I can barely keep myself from crying. The ear has been smashed into Yashamaru's head so hard that it is absolutely soaked with blood. It is only after I manage to stop gaping at the wound that Yashamaru tells me that not only can't he hear out of that ear anymore, but Takeo is nowhere to be found. Charging over to Kira, who just finished burying the sword for no apparent reason, I tackle her and slam her hard into the ground. There is nobody else I can think of who could have caused this whole mess but her.

Upon closer examination, I notice the skin where Takeo's gold bands had been is extremely sore looking with dark bruises forming in a few spots. I don't have long to think about that before Riu, foaming at the mouth, bowls straight into me and knocks me away from Kira. As the girl struggles to regain her footing, her accomplice launches herself at my face. Wrapping her paws around my head, she begins raking her claws down my face. Yashamaru and Baki attempt to force Kira back down as Temari and Kankuro try to rip Riu off of me. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Kira almost entirely avoiding being hit by my Baki and Yashamaru while she doesn't attempt a single punch in return. Meanwhile, Temari successfully manages to yank Riu's claws out of my face by nearly tearing her tail off. As Riu prepares to jump at me again, Kira rushes to help her. It is only when thin sand bindings hold everyone still do things begin to calm down. With clenched teeth, a trembling hand, and sweat poring down his face, Gaara manages to whisper an order. "Stop it."

Once the sand falls limply back to the ground, I decide to get to the bottom of the matter. I turn to Kira. "Would you mind explaining yourself? You were supposed to be guarding my husband and from the looks of things you failed miserably." Kira winces as she gently rubs one of her sore wrists. She practically glares a hole into me as she considers what she has to say for herself.

"For your information, I was trying to protect him. It's kind of hard to help someone when they nearly choke you and try to rip your hands off at the first sight of assassins. It was bad enough finding needles in my neck after passing out at that meeting." Riu and Kira both flinch at the memory. "I still don't know how that happened. After that, I had to send a clone all the way here to keep some kid named Dosu from either killing Gaara or trying to get Shukaku to come out." Gaara nods at this. "He seemed to have been handling himself fine, but I will admit I did enjoy burning that kid's face off. I just wish I could have done that to Orochimaru." I guess Sasori isn't the only torture expert I know anymore. "Anyway, Orochimaru and his creepy white haired friend still had a bone to pick with us. Those two tried to kill us, but then they had to send those cronies after us instead once Orochimaru had to go finish his plan. Not to mention that kid was starting to cough up blood. The point is, we were doing alright until the red haired man with the cloak showed up and pissed your husband off. I think he was trying to help, but it didn't take long after that for your dear husband to try to kill me before getting badly wounded and dragged out of here. Then of course I got stuck using a dead man's sword from a grave disturbed by gold dust to keep myself from getting killed. I doubt you'd ever be able to understand how horrible it feels to resort to using the weapon of a man you once knew, but that is a story for another time."

Before I can even begin to tell Kira off for not following Sasori and Takeo, Gaara quietly tells Riu to try and track them for us. She glares at me one more time before sighing, flicking her ears, and taking a deep breath. Then she gives a signal meow before bolting headlong through the flames. It doesn't take us long to break through the wall of fire, but even then we are still left wheezing. The good news is Riu locates Takeo about ten minutes later. The bad news is he does not look good. Takeo's entire shirt is caked in dried blood and a gaping wound in his chest is further dampening it. Sasori is crouching next to Takeo, trying to explain something to him in a panicked tone that terrifies me. Once he notices me, Sasori stops talking and beckons everyone forward. Takeo coughs weakly before whispering to us. "There you are. And I see Kira really did stick to her end of the bargain. Good." Kira relaxes a bit. That's the closest thing to an apology she's likely to get from Takeo. "I'm afraid I won't be able to live much longer. I just want to say goodbye." Seeing me getting ready to protest, he cuts me off. "I already made Sasori give me the injection. There is no need for me to spend the next few hours bleeding to death. Now I just hope he'll do the rest of what I asked him to do for me."

Sasori gulps after I glare at him. He has no idea how lucky he is that I'd rather not beat him up in front of both his son and a dying man. "I already told you my answer. My organization isn't exactly functioning the way it used to." Sasori sighs before wiping away what looks suspiciously like a tear. He'd better not try to claim that is just 'manly sweat' at a time like this. "I do have something I want to tell you though. It's probably the only time I'll ever say it to anyone so listen up." Sasori clears his throat. "I have always wanted to be more like you. You have always been a lucky man. You even stole the heart of the only woman I ever loved. I have been jealous of that single fact for a long time. But at least you lived up to it. You have been an excellent husband, father, and stepfather from what I have seen. I know it might not mean much to you, but I just want you to know that I respect you."

Takeo looks as shocked as I feel. After being stunned speechless for a moment, he manages to find his voice again. "Thank you. It's good to know at least someone from my village still thinks I am a decent human being. Even I can't say that I am. Now then, I believe I only have a minute or two left, so I'll have to make this count." Takeo's body shakes as he coughs a few more times. "Karura, you have been the best wife a man could ever hope to have. You have always been my guardian angel. I just wish I had listened to you a little harder and made you as happy as you deserve to be, but I'm glad I got to spend the best years of my life with you." I can't keep the tears from coming now as they slide down my cheeks. "Temari, you have grown into a woman much like your mother. Once you find a man worthy of you, I'm sure you will guide him well. Not without a few good hits to the head with that fan of yours of course." Takeo forces himself to smirk even as I see his breathing become more labored. "Out of all of you, there is one person I need to apologize to more than anyone else. Gaara, I hope you can forgive me. You may not be my son, but I still ended up burdening you since before you were born. I regret to say that my decisions regarding you have gotten even more foolish as the years have past. I'm sure your mother has more than made that point already though. What I mean to say is, I am proud of you. You have been through far too much for such a young boy, but I can tell you have even more potential than I ever did." Takeo's whisper becomes so hoarse and faded that I can barely make out what he is saying. "And last but not least, Kankuro. You are almost exactly like I was at your age. Hopefully you don't make too many mistakes like I did. Please just try to do something…" Takeo's voice suddenly gives out as his last breath whispers through his lips and takes the remainder of his sentence with it. Head bowed, Sasori leans forward and gingerly shuts my husband's eyes for the last time.


	28. The Funeral

It takes us a whole week to get back to the village. Normally it wouldn't take so long, but most of us are pretty slow at the moment thanks to our injuries. That and we have had to prepare Takeo's body so that it won't rot too much before the burial. Sasori volunteered to be the one to remove Takeo's organs way too easily I you ask me. I know it's part of the preparation rituals, but I'll never understand how anyone could be so casual about it. Sasori had been acting a bit off though. He never even bothered telling me what he had been talking to Takeo about before we found them. He could barely even look at me or Gaara by the time he left to rejoin his group. At least he gave me one of his smaller bird puppets which can find him if I need him. I may not know much about puppets, but even I can work some of the simpler ones. Whatever the Akatsuki are planning to do, Sasori seems to think we won't see him much for a long time. I tried to ask Kira and Riu about it since they did meet Orochimaru and maybe a few of the other members, but that didn't help. Riu just kept giving me the cold shoulder (she has been having literal hissy fits with me on and off since she scratched my face, so I'm not surprised). Kira seemed as curious as I am. All she knows is that all of the members are really strong and have some knowledge of sealing.

It's still hard to believe Takeo is gone. Whether they admit it or not, everyone in our little group is feeling a bit depressed. Even Baki and Yashamaru are being twice as quiet as usual. The children are taking it the worst though. Kankuro's war paint ran clear off his face two days ago and I've caught Temari crying a little when she thinks nobody is looking. Gaara is trying to stay strong, but even he hasn't been feeling like himself. Instead of meditating, he has been trying to reach Takeo somehow and apologize to him for the invasion's failure. Sasori acted a lot like that when his parents were killed, but that will probably pass sooner or later. It's really the little things about Takeo that I miss the most. Even Kira has been half expecting his occasional wise cracks. As for me, I miss the way Takeo used to say goodnight to me. He would either tuck me in or get any supplies I needed if it was my turn to stay up with Gaara for a few hours before kissing me on my forehead and looking at me with the sweetest eyes I've ever seen. It feels so wrong going to sleep without his warm body next to mine.

As soon as we reach the village, we have to start the funeral. We need to finish it off before the next sandstorm blows in and forces everyone inside. The actual labor doesn't take long. Takeo laid to rest long before the sun even begins to set. It is the speeches that take a while. Traditionally, the council and other unrelated people speak first before the kazekage's family members deliver the final speeches. The whole village gathers around so that everyone can hear their leader be praised for his accomplishments one last time. The problem is that nobody seems all that grateful. Few of the council members give my husband credit for all of the good he did. Rather than praising his ability to keep the village running, they actually stoop so low as to slip in a few snide remarks about Shukaku before wrapping up their monologues. The civilians and shinobi are little better, though they at least manage to act decently. Anybody who even considers dancing on that grave is going to be the next person buried; I can't promise they'll be dead when that happens either.

At last, I am called to speak. I can almost feel the harsh glares of the citizens scorching holes into me as I stand before them. With Takeo dead, they have no reason to hold their hatred back. I'm not going to let that stop me though. Sweeping my gaze over the crowd, I begin. "You have all heard of my husband. To you, he was a leader. He guided this village and took care of it like it was his own child. This he did without receiving even half of the praise he was due. But Takeo wasn't just the kazekage. He was a husband and a father. I have known him since before we were genin. It is true we did not always get along." I have to allow myself a small smile as I remember the many hours we spent bickering as children. "He and I did not get along perfectly, but nobody ever does. We always supported each other though. No matter what happened, he stood firmly by my side as my husband and lifelong partner." I can see a few handkerchiefs out now, but I'm far from finished. "Takeo was also a wonderful father. He spent less time with his children than most because of his duty, but for that he valued his time with them even more. Now he can't be with them in body, but he will always be there for his children and me. We will carry him in our hearts and minds forever." As I finish, I hear a few appreciative words whispered, but nobody dares to speak louder than that for fear of losing the solemnity of the moment.

Normally Kankuro and Temari would each get their own turn, but they will have to go together today. Poor Kankuro is so upset that he can barely speak. His voice is hoarse from hours of crying. I can make out tears trickling down his cheeks even now. Temari speaks for both of them as her brother directs her a little under his breath. "Our father was a brave man. He put the weight of the village on his shoulders when he left home every morning, exchanged it for the burden of a family when he came home, and repeated that cycle for years without many benefits for him. If anything, his position made him suffer. Headaches and insomnia were not uncommon for him." He and Gaara at least shared those unfortunate issues. "No matter what, our father stood tall as the backbone of the village. Even if there was a sandstorm raging outside, even if he felt ill, he did his duty. Now I can only hope we can give him the respect and gratitude he deserves." With that Takeo's children each give a bow before rejoining me.

The head of the council saunters over with a bit of a satisfied smile on his face and says we ought to end the funeral now. Before I can even try to tell him off, Kira coughs lightly and Riu taps the man's leg with her tail. Kira flicks her head in Gaara's direction before looking at the man pointedly. He whispers something involving the words demon, monster, and illegitimate before Kira grabs onto his tunic and yanks him closer. I can't make out what she says to him, but I do see something flash in Kira's eyes for a second. I don't know what she said or what that flash was, but the head of the council stutters out an apology and gestures for Gaara to go ahead. I wait for the man to slink away before nudging Kira. She whispers so softly that I can barely hear her. "Denying someone the right to speak at a funeral where I come from disrespects both the would be speaker and the deceased. I might not have liked your husband much and I might not know Gaara well, but I think Gaara should be the one to end this." She sighs before saying one last sentence. "Takeo and Gaara may not be related, but even I gave my guardians a farewell speech despite the lack of an audience besides one cat." Riu gently rubs Kira as her master let's a tear or two slip down her face onto the ground.

The crowd stirs restlessly as Gaara prepares to speak. Many people begin muttering nervously and some even get ready to sprint away at a moment's notice. Thankfully, Gaara manages to silence the crowd just by clearing his throat. "As you all know, the kazekage was not my father. He always took care of me though. From the day I was born, he watched over me and kept me safe. I'll be the first to admit he wasn't perfect, but he always tried his best." Gaara pauses a moment before continuing. "He always tried to do the best he could for both the village and his family. That didn't always work. I, the host of Shukaku, am living proof that not all of his decisions made both the village and his family as happy as possible. I have suffered my whole life due to being labeled a freak, a monster, a weapon. But the kazekage could look past the demon. He saw me for what I am, what I have been, and what I always will be- a human. I know many of you see me in a different light, but that does not give you permission to disrespect a great and noble leader. If anything, it means you should honor and thank him for always putting the village first. He gave his life for you; the least you could do is respect him during his death more than you ever did while he was alive." Gaara bows low before addressing not the crowd amassed before him but the dead man who had ordered Shukaku to be sealed within him. "Thank you, lord kazekage, for the life you dedicated to making this village prosper and to making your family happy. May you rest in peace." With that Gaara brought the ceremony to a close. As the villagers stood gaping in awe at the so called demon, we began heading home.


	29. Negotiations

This past week, nothing has been normal. I haven't heard much good news, but there has been some. Neko finally had her kittens after giving Atami a bloody nose. The two males are named Iwao and Satetsu while the female is named Hanami. They have a while to go before they can explore the house, but they all opened their eyes this morning. Since the kittens were born on Gaara's bed, Kira and Riu have been sleeping on the couch in the living room. They don't seem to mind though. They've actually been getting a bit obsessed with the kittens from what I've seen. Kira has been telling us all about how cute Riu was when she was a kitten, complete with a few handfuls of photos. Despite having plenty of embarrassing moments mentioned during those stories, Riu has been in a cheery mood lately. I think those kittens will keep us all occupied for a while, especially once they start running around.

Besides those fluffy bundles of joy, things have been a bit dreary around the house. I haven't slept well at all since Takeo died either. The whole house feels empty and cold without him around, but the bedroom is the worst. No matter where I look in there, my eyes always seem to find a picture of Takeo or something that used to be his. Yashamaru has been trying to help me a little bit by staying in a chair he dragged into the bedroom every night until I fall asleep. He was relieved of his ANBU duties since nobody could fix that one ear, so he has had plenty of time to spare. He usually tells me all about missions he went on even though I have heard about most of them. All the same, they help him cope and they help me fall asleep after a while. Being asleep doesn't help me much though. I have barely stopped dreaming about snakes since I got home. Those dreams have been making me wake up with a pillow full of tears every morning. Once, I even had a dream where a giant snake swallowed Takeo whole. It woke me up in the middle of the night and terrified me so much that I could barely stop sobbing. Thankfully, Gaara came to keep me company that night. He didn't say much; I was too hysterical to talk to him at all. He did help me out though. For what seemed like hours, he held me tight until I stopped crying. Then he made sure I got back to sleep. Gaara isn't the only one who has been acting differently around me though. Most of the villagers treat me like a glass figurine that could shatter into a million pieces at any moment. On the bright side, people don't seem to be treating Gaara as horribly any more. I don't know if it's because of Takeo's death or something else, but they have at least stopped whispering insults within Gaara's hearing range. At least I haven't had to put up with that lately.

Kamatari and I are about ready to head off with one of the council members to explain Takeo's death to the daimyo. After what happened to the last kazekage, I'll bet that job is starting to look cursed. At least this time we know without a doubt that the kazekage died and isn't just missing. All the same, it will be tricky to convince anyone to become the fifth kazekage. At least Baki has been keeping the kids, plus Kira, busy with taijutsu training. I'd rather avoid talking about Takeo getting replaced to them for a while. At least Kamatari offered to come along with me. The council allowed him to come for security reasons, but I'd say he's with me mainly to keep me from losing it with the daimyo. That man has already ruined our village's economy, so my opinion of him is obviously not pretty. Before I can think too much about how much Takeo used to hate the daimyo, I hear a knock on the door. As soon as I open it, I can barely believe my eyes. This man doesn't look like any council member I've ever seen. He is maybe twenty and has both brown hair and brown eyes. With long, well muscled legs and quite the tan, he looks like he spends most of his time outside on missions. "Good morning. You must be Karura. My name is Seishi. I have been assigned to escort you to the daimyo's mansion for a meeting." He shakes my hand before bending down to Kamatari's level. "I take it you are Kamatari. Has the war with the snakes been going well?"

At least this guy seems well informed. "We have not made much progress lately. The toads seem to be getting more involved though. They seem to have gained a new summoner. Now that the third hokage is dead, I've heard that the toad sage and some hyperactive kid are going to try and convince a slug summoner to be the next hokage before Orochimaru gets to her." Kamatari rolls his eyes. Just thinking about someone with Naruto's personality going on such an important mission tends to drive him crazy. "At least that traitor should be taught a lesson. Now if only we could have that kind of luck on the battlefield. The snakes seem to have brought in some fresh reinforcements. Nobody even knows what that new creature of theirs is yet. Those who see it don't live to tell the tail and those who manage to catch its scent can only say that it smells like smoke and ashes. Then again, that Kira girl kind of fits that description too." At that last comment, Kamatari can't help himself from narrowing his eyes a bit. At least now I know why Kira puts him on edge besides the fact that he doesn't know her well. Seishi bows politely after letting Kamatari's little speech soak in, but I can tell something about it is bothering him. I can tell just by looking at his eyes that he's trying to sort something out. All the same, he decides to begin our brief journey instead of asking anything else.

The trip only takes about two hours. Just before we enter the daimyo's chambers, Seishi gives us a bit more information. "I don't know what your husband told you about the daimyo, but there are a few things you should know about him. For starters, you have to stay respectful at all times. If you so much as look at him wrong, things could get very ugly very quickly. I know he might try your patience a bit, especially if he mentions your husband or the Shukaku situation too much." He holds up his hand to keep me from responding. "I can tell just by how the others talk about you that you care an awful lot for your youngest son. I'm out of the village often since I'm pretty much the messenger for the other council members due to my age, but I can tell you're not the she-devil they made you out to be. I can't say I know much about Gaara, but I do know that I'm stuck with a bunch of first class exaggerators whenever I come back to the village. I'll try to make sure the daimyo doesn't do anything rash. Just please keep that temper in check and stick to the facts. I'll handle most of the dirty work." Seishi snorts. "As if any government related work is even close to clean." I can't say I like being told to look pretty and keep my mouth shut, but I already knew I'd need to hold my tongue.

Seishi pushes the door to the daimyo's chambers open with a creak. I can feel my fingers digging into my palms as I see all of the wasteful decorations scattered around the room. As if the silk drapes by the windows and the giant tapestries weren't enough, it looks like the daimyo is sitting in a golden chair. Just thinking about where Takeo's monthly gold shipments ended up makes me nauseous. I'm afraid that if I even open my mouth a millimeter I just might scream until I run out of oxygen. Kamatari rubs my knees lightly as we get closer to the daimyo in an attempt to calm me down, but I can feel him fighting to keep his fur from bristling. All three of us bow deeply until the daimyo allows us to rise again. No wonder Takeo despised this pompous man. "As you all know, I have called you all here to discuss two urgent matters: the next kazekage and the fate of Shukaku's host. Do you have the proper documents regarding the demise of Takeo?"

And yet the even more urgent matter of the village's horrible economy remains unmentioned. I hand over a pile of paperwork before delivering the required witness report. At least only I will have to do this. None of the kids would be able to tolerate this for a minute. "Takeo died after a long fight with Orochimaru and many of his subordinates. The injuries sustained by those who were present are documented on page sixty. The primary cause of Takeo's death was blood loss from a large wound in his chest." That's not much of a lie; Sasori did say the blood loss would have killed him eventually. "Takeo did not name a successor nor did he ever have any students. He left no indication whatsoever of whom he wished to take his place upon his death." Because he did not plan on dying during a failed invasion that was meant to help his village, he never considered passing the massive burden of the village's fate to anyone else for a long time yet. I wish I could have said that aloud. I doubt the daimyo would care about the plans we had to eventually retire at a ripe old age around the time we became grandparents. I have to bite my lip to keep the tears at bay.

Seishi gently adds his part after giving me a quick, concerned glance. "None of the qualified shinobi have been offered the position yet. Their names are on page thirty, along with brief histories of each candidate. As for Shukaku's host, Gaara seems to have recovered a little possession by the demon. His chakra system has not fully recovered yet since that will take another week or so due to the sheer size o Shukaku's own chakra reserves, but Gaara is at least healthy enough to resume training."

The daimyo flicks through a few of the pages then scowls. "The boy's health is of no concern to me. Takeo's so called ace in the hole has failed to fulfill his purpose. If he can't control the beast, something must be done before he harms the village." Shukaku is not the only beast the village has to worry about from the looks of it. "Though, I suppose Takeo couldn't even manage a single rogue. Who am I to impose the management of a demon on someone who failed to control his own wife?" And now I've managed to break the skin of my palms with my nails. This had better end before I have to teach the daimyo that mortals can be just as scary as Shukaku. As Seishi splutters as he tries to speak without raising his voice, Kamatari speaks up.

"I understand your concern regarding Shukaku, but that particular demon is under control. Gaara was merely following Takeo's orders to let the beast loose. If you are still concerned, Karura could always contact Chiyo. That would remedy any issues, if any exist at all." The words flow gracefully off of Kamatari's tongue, but I can detect an edge to his words. Sometimes words can penetrate as deeply as the sharpest of knives. It doesn't work that well this time though.

The daimyo dismisses us with a flick of his fingers. "I will handle that child as I see fit if he continues to pose a threat. Perhaps you can have the candidates for the position of kazekage try to straighten him out. Though that would be a fine test, the council may select whomever they wish. Until then, they shall lead the village. If that demon spawn, the product of disloyalty and dishonor, ever causes me any trouble again, I will see to it that he is disposed off. Perhaps if you manage to keep him in check I will let him live. You may return to the village now." I doubt the council will pick a new kazekage soon knowing my luck. At least the daimyo's choices in décor seem to show that he seems to brag about his wealth more than he actually acts upon his word. Hopefully, I might be able to intimidate the council enough to at least enough to keep Gaara out of trouble if the council tries to anything drastic. If the daimyo really does stick to his word, I just might have to use that emergency puppet Sasori gave me so that I've have someone to help me pull a few strings.


	30. Preparations

Since the council will probably try something crazy sooner or later, I'm going to need to find ways to keep my family safe until the next kazekage is chosen. The last time we went a few years without a kazekage, the village ended up in a massive war that helped cause the current economic issues. Even back then our daimyo at least tried to help out a little bit though. At least Konoha seems too preoccupied with finding Tsunade to make her the hokage and chasing Orochimaru to waste any time going after us. I doubt we'll be able to have an alliance with them again unless the council decides to go after Orochimaru as well. Since the majority of the council members are still opening champagne bottles to celebrate their increased power, I doubt many of them have any interest in avenging Takeo. For now, I'll just have to focus on helping Yashamaru get strong enough to go out on missions again and on getting as much information out of Kira as possible. Normally I wouldn't consider even trying to get anyone her age involved, but her father was a leader of some sort. Besides, Chiyo is a bit busy ranting about Tsunade to be of much use for a while and Kira knows that I could easily get her kicked out of the village. Her hatred towards some of the council members couldn't hurt either.

We don't have too long to talk before we have to go help Baki train Yashamaru. He didn't say what he has in mind, but I have a feeling I'd better be ready to use some low level medical jutsu just in case. After I explain exactly what the daimyo said and how Seishi didn't seem to have much influence on him, Kira groans. "Trust me, my father did not run things the way your husband or even the daimyo ever did. First of all, he was almost a dictator. Some of the elders discussed battle strategies with him, but other than that he barely listened to anyone. He always used to tell me that to succeed in ruling anyone well, you had to be able to yell the loudest and fight the hardest. No wonder few of his followers even dared to look him in the eye." Kira rubs her chin in thought for a moment before brightening up a little. "Come to think of it, there might have been two things that could control him: wealth and power. My father used to have a hoard of jewels big enough for him to curl up in comfortably. As for power, anyone who even spoke a single word of doubt about him was lucky not to receive a few scars. The daimyo does sound vulnerable enough for you to get to him if that is necessary. Attacking him directly would be foolish, so you should seek other people to get missions and income from instead like smaller villages so that the daimyo won't be able to control you or make any money from you. As for the council, simple blackmail should suffice for them. Is that all you need to know or should I tell you how you could make all of the council members tremble at your feet too?" Kira smirks in such a malicious way that I can barely tell if she's being sarcastic or just sadistic. I tell her I don't need to hear more from her, but I invite her to watch Baki train Yashamaru. It couldn't hurt for Yashamaru to spar with a fire user for a change once he gets used to fighting again, so I might as well see if I can pressure Kira into helping out there too.

Once we reach the training clearing, I see that Baki, Yashamaru and the children are getting ready to start. Baki pulls out a blindfold before introducing his plan. "Yashamaru, since you can no longer hear in one ear, you must learn to assess your surroundings efficiently through other means. I had to learn a new fighting still when I lost an eye, so hopefully the same method will work for you. We fill start by blindfolding you and preventing you from hearing through your working ear with a genjutsu for fifteen minutes. I will fight you using only taijutsu for those fifteen minutes. You may only use your chakra to detect me. Once you can beat me in one fifteen minute match, I will have one of our volunteers help me fight against you. Then we will move on to using ninjutsu using the same system. This will continue every day until you can beat pairs of us on the first try. After that, I will adjust the rules to suit your progress. Any questions?" Yashamaru shakes his head before Baki prepares him for the first match. If this gets nearly as intense as it did when I retrained Baki, all parties involved are going to get really sore. Since Baki wasn't a sensor type, it took him a year or so to use his chakra well enough to go back to doing missions again. Yashamaru has impressive chakra control, but I think he might be getting a tad old to learn this well. Worst off, it should keep him from feeling sorry for himself too much.

After Yashamaru crouches into a battle stance, Baki charges at him. Yashamaru tries to get out of the way, but he just ends up flying through the air as Baki manages to kick him squarely in the chest. Yashamaru gets to his feet quickly enough, but I can tell I'll be wishing for my own blindfold by the end of this. Yashamaru tries to get on the offensive, but Baki just sidesteps his punches before punching him in his side. Thanks to his sharp reflexes, Yashamaru manages to land a blow on Baki's side before Baki leaps away, leaving Yashamaru swinging at thin air. Things don't get much better as the match progresses. Yashamaru tries his hardest, but he just isn't sensing with his chakra much yet. At the end of the fifteen minutes, Baki doesn't look the least bit tired as Yashamaru rubs a fresh bruise on his cheek. "You need to stay calm and let the opponent come to you. Don't run blindly into a fight unless you plan on losing it." Yashamaru looks a bit peeved at being given advice from my former student, but Baki does have a point.

The next match is a bit better. Yashamaru waits for Baki to come in close before dodging him and elbowing him in the side. Baki tries to counterattack, but he only manages to brush Yashamaru's shoulder with the side of his fist. After much energetic jumping around during which few blows actually met their mark, Baki manages to disorient Yashamaru by attacking from as many directions as possible within only a few minutes. As Yashamaru tries to stay on his slightly wobbly legs, Baki pins him to the ground. After Baki points out that Yashamaru must spread his chakra all around him instead of just in front of him to avoid too much unneeded turning, the training continues.

After hours of sparring, Yashamaru finally beats Baki just before we take a break for lunch. Yashamaru ended up taking advantage of Baki's blind side to nail him just below Baki's empty eye socket. Thankfully, nobody saw anything past what I like to call Baki's facial curtain. They were to busy covering their ears against Baki's yelp of surprise. Gaara ended up cringing harder than anyone else, but I suspect that has more to do with his fine tuned senses than anything else. After hearing Shukaku during the invasion, I'm surprised Shukaku actually makes his hearing keener instead of making him deaf. Despite being startled half way out of his wits, Baki manages to congratulate Yashamaru with just a tiny quiver in his voice. There is no shame in that quiver as far as I'm concerned. Baki hates being approached on his blind side, so I can only imagine how scary it was for him to be hit their, especially considering how badly Shukaku injured him there. Yashamaru will have more trouble with the next round though. After a few moments of deliberation, Baki and I decide to make Kankuro Baki's partner for the next part. Gaara needs just another day or two to rest before he'll be ready for anything too crazy and both Temari and I have strong arms which would be a bit much for Yashamaru to start with. I don't know how Kira's taijutsu is, but Kankuro's is enough to pose a good challenge for today. Besides, he relies on his puppets way too much. The only thing worse than Kankuro's dependence on his puppets is Gaara's dependence on his sand, but at least Gaara is dabbling in some sensory jutsu of his own now, even if it still is pretty short ranged.

Without his bulky puppet weighing him down, Kankuro serves as a good supplement to Baki's attacks. I do see him snarl in frustration as he resists the urge to use his chakra strings on multiple occasions, but in the end he still does a decent job. Kankuro's taijutsu is powerful, but it is based on large, slow strikes. As such, he has trouble hitting my agile brother. Yashamaru tries to hold back a bit at first, but eventually he relentlessly pummels Kankuro with brief showers of rapid blows that leave Kankuro's sides heaving as he tries to catch his breath. Yashamaru's speed becomes his greatest asset as he finally manages to beat both Baki and Kankuro by dodging their attacks, launching his own, and leaping away quickly in the blink of an eye. At the end of the last match, the three men are coated in sweat. I can just make out the faint blue aura of Yashamaru's chakra as he lets it fade away one last time. After Yashamaru takes off his blindfold, I can hardly believe my eyes. Kira fails to hold back an explosive laugh and even Gaara smirks slightly as his lips twitch with his own suppressed mirth, Yashamaru stares blankly at his highly amused audience. I wish I could stop giggling myself, but who wouldn't laugh at those deep red lines the blindfold left on Yashamaru? Those things are almost as profound as Baki's battle scars for crying out loud! I really should get Yashamaru to a mirror so he can get a good laugh out of this too. He could use a bit of amusement right now; seeing him that dumbfounded about the situation is going to make someone die laughing if it doesn't end soon.


	31. Considerations

It has been about two months since Baki started training Yashamaru. Yashamaru can deal with taijutsu pretty well now, but it's going to be a while before he can handle ninjutsu well again. Unfortunately, none of us are all that good at being gentle with our ninjutsu. Even Gaara almost ended up shredding the skin on Yashamaru's arm when he failed to dodge a single strike from Gaara's sand. Since the village has mostly recovered from the failed invasion, the council will be able to focus on us more soon. Yashamaru is still a long way from being able to handle fighting any ANBU members, so for now I'm just going to have to hustle until a new kazekage is chosen. Today, Seishi and Chiyo managed to come over to discuss strategies. Now that Tsunade has become the new hokage, Konoha will probably end up hurting our economy even more now that it is stable again. If Suna is going to survive, we will need to act quickly to get the daimyo to give us the funding we desperately need.

After hours of fruitless arguing, Seishi risks being yelled at by proposing the only reasonable solution I've heard all day. "Since Konoha is probably targeting Orochimaru, it might do us good to form a temporary alliance with them. Eliminating Orochimaru would keep both villages safe from more of his schemes while at the same time boosting our reputations. Orochimaru does seem to be planning something since some of his strongest subordinates were seen leaving his village a few days ago. Perhaps if we are lucky we could have Konoha in our debt if that snake tries to cause any more trouble."

It takes Chiyo maybe five seconds to respond. Thankfully, she only sounds exasperated and annoyed instead of raging mad this time. All the same, I wouldn't turn down a pair of ear lugs right now. "As desperate as we are, we are not that desperate. What are we going to do next, waltz over to the daimyo's mansion and kiss his feet for a few D ranked missions? Even if your idea does have a chance of working, Konoha has fallen into untrustworthy hands. That slug princess almost never pays off any of her debts. Dealing with her would just waste our time." I see that grudge is as strong as ever. I'm beginning to wonder if all old people are this hard headed. That would explain a lot about the state they have driven our village into. Hopefully Chiyo will at least listen to reason. Seishi at least looks like he won't back down just yet; he is either very brave or very stupid to question Chiyo's opinion.

"Well, we have a long way to go before we can do much else. None of the other villages will pay us much attention since we still don't have a kazekage. The only reason Konoha seems to be respecting us at all is because Orochimaru killed the third hokage. Even you have to admit, avenging that old man would at least make Konoha more likely to ally with us. Once we have Konoha's respect, the other villages are bound to follow. Don't even suggest appointing a new kazekage right now either." Seishi rolls his eyes and mutters something about lousy traditions made by fossils. "Since Daichi is too sick right now to join any meetings, we won't even be able to suggest a new kazekage, let alone appoint one, until he recovers. Even if that kidney problem of his does put him out of his misery soon, we would still need to fill his position before considering a new kazekage. Besides, I haven't seen many likely candidates for the position yet." Seishi briefly notes the three of for people who have impressed him along with the faults that make them unlikely to be good leaders. "At this rate, it'll be years before we get a new kazekage, assuming the village survives that long." Now Chiyo seems to be thinking the idea over, but I think she'll need just a little more persuading to make her agree with the plan. It seems to have potential, so I'm not going to let it fade away that easily.

When all else fails, I know a few people Chiyo would consider allying with Tsunade to protect. Granted she would still gripe about it, but she would still go through with it. "You know that with the council gaining more power by the day, we will need to prove ourselves to them soon. Otherwise, they might try to send assassins after Sasori and Gaara again. Since Takeo isn't around to keep that from happening and the daimyo seems likely to make things worse, you can imagine what might happen." Chiyo can indeed imagine the scenario which could occur if nothing is done quickly. After teasing me for finding an old lady's weak spot, she begrudgingly gives Seishi her approval. After Seishi agrees to keep his eyes on Konoha, the three of us hear some yowls coming from the kitchen.

Before we can even react, Satetsu comes charging in with Iwao hot on his tail. Being the smallest of Atami's kittens, poor Satetsu doesn't have the stamina necessary for hectic play fights just yet. That little fuzz ball sure can run though. Keeping a few feet ahead of his brother, Satetsu leaps right into Chiyo's lap. His fur stands on end as his brother taunts him from the floor. "Oh come on, you big chicken. Don't tell me you're afraid of a little wrestling?" Satetsu cringes as Iwao jokingly bats his paws in his brother's direction. Iwao bears his teeth into a playful snarl. He jumps right onto my lap and prepares to pounce on his brother as he crouches with his tiny claws digging into my leg.

Before I have to forcibly extract Iwao's nails from my pants, Hanami sprints up to the doorway and calls to her brothers. "Come on guys! Riu is telling stories again." With that, Hanami dashes straight to the living room. It is only then that I notice the tiny purple paw prints Hanami left behind. I guess Kankuro still hasn't kitten proofed his war paint jars yet. At least it never takes much to clean that stuff up. Iwao nearly rips a whole in my pant leg as he tears his claws out of it before following his sister. Satetsu at least has the decency to mew a quick apology to Chiyo before bouncing off to hear another one of Riu's crazy stories. After brushing cat hair off of our clothes, Chiyo and I both drag Seishi off to check on the kittens' story time. Riu might give me the cold shoulder from time to time, but I have to admit her stories are entertaining. Sometimes she even uses genjutsu to illustrate her tales.

Peeking around a corner, the three of us manage to hear most of a story about how Riu and her brothers played a prank on their sister back Kira had just adopted Riu. Every now and again, Kira corrects her cat to keep her from overinflating her reputation. Meanwhile, Atami and Gaara supervise the kittens to prevent any outburst. Once the story finishes, the kittens all trail Riu, begging for more stories. With a sigh, Atami stretches for a moment before preparing to herd his children to bed. Once all the cats leave, Gaara comments on the story. "My parents used to tell me stories all the time, but even they would be impressed by your cat. She has a way of making anything seem dramatic."

Kira does not seem nearly as impressed by the stories. She chuckles a little just thinking about her overly dramatic feline friend. "Riu exaggerates almost as much as the villagers do about you. I know Riu just does it to show off, but some people just don't know when to stop twisting the truth. I don't think I'll ever understand why people act so weird around you." Kira cocks her head to the side a bit in a moment of genuine curiosity. "Come to think of it, what did you ever do that could make people avoid you like that? It just doesn't make sense to me one bit."

Gaara can't keep from looking down as he tries to explain. "I think they hate me mainly because of Shukaku. That's not the whole reason though." Gaara tries to leave it at that, but Kira obviously intends to wait for him to continue. After a drawn out silence, he does. "The night the fourth kazekage found out I wasn't his son, he threatened my mother. I was still pretty young at the time, but hearing a man scream like that didn't stop me from trying to help. When Takeo tried to hit my mom, I used my sand to grab his wrist. Then, he shot me in the shoulder with one of his jutsu. I didn't mean to hurt him so badly, but I was too scared to do much else." Gaara lets out a shaky, regret filled breath. "I crushed his hand."

For a minute I'm afraid, Kira is going to leave the room entirely. Her legs tense up and her eyes widen in shock. When she speaks again, her voice trembles. "So he really did go after you two. You should have been more careful, but I can honestly say I would have done the same thing." Kira's eyes take on a misty, far away look as she relives a painful memory. She quickly shakes her head to clear her mind again. "Now I kind of get why the villagers hate you, but they really shouldn't. You were just a terrified little kid who reacted on instinct more than anything else. You just wanted to protect your mom." Kira nods in affirmation and gives Gaara a faltering smile which she barely manages to maintain. "There's no reason you shouldn't be able to gain their trust eventually."

Relieved, Gaara quietly mentions something I'd never heard him mention before. "You know, I really do think I can change their opinions one day. Before the invasion started, I met a kid with a lot of the same problems I have. He didn't have many friends, but he always tried his best for the friends he did have and for the rest of the village too. Almost every day, he spoke about his ultimate goal." Gaara clenches his hands into fists and looks Kira straight in the eye. "One day, I will be like him. We both want to lead our villages, to help those who have feared us no matter what." His gaze sharpens, as if daring Kira to object. Next to me, I can hear Seishi gasp. I can only guess what he is thinking right now. Part of me is afraid that Gaara won't be able to reach his goal, but at the same time it's good to know he's still trying to get accepted. He'll never give up; that much I can see.

Kira returns Gaara's gaze after looking him over for a moment. "Well, you do have the right mindset. In a few years you should be strong enough for the job. I just don't know if the council will allow that." She puts her hand on Gaara's shoulder, halfway scaring him to death with her lack of rejection. "All the same, don't let it go to your head. Don't turn into Takeo on me now." Gaara's face reddens a bit as he prepares to defend my husband, but Kira laughs the comment off. She thumps Gaara on the shoulder lightly, causing him to jerk away from the unusual gesture. Most people around here prefer to avoid such direct physical contact, but then again most people don't even give Gaara the benefit of the doubt. Kira still seems a tad doubtful judging from that look in her eyes, but at least she is using some tact. The last thing Gaara needs is for his dreams to be outright rejected by anyone.


	32. Falling Apart

A few days ago, we finally got our chance to restore the alliance with Konoha. Apparently that Uchiha kid ran off to join Orochimaru so he could become stronger. As much as I understand why everyone is so worried, this whole mess seems to be getting out of control. The team sent to retrieve the Uchiha consisted of a few genin and a single recently promoted chunin. Why anyone thought it was a good idea to send three more genin as reinforcements is beyond me especially if the rumors about the exact shinobi involved are true. On the bright side, they might manage to help kill five of Orochimaru's strongest subordinates. I just can't keep myself from expecting the worst though. I always new my children would be sent on some particularly dangerous missions eventually, but this is a bit much. For now, there is nothing I can do but pray that my children will have better luck than Takeo did.

To keep myself from worrying too much, I've been trying to keep up with the kittens' training. Trust me, that was a bad idea. I don't know why Riu thinks it's even remotely okay to teach kittens how to hunt snakes and scorpions at when they're so young, but she has that in her lesson plans. Kira and I have been trying to get her to avoid mentioning that idea to Neko, but she has been getting way too enthusiastic about it to give up just yet. If Riu wants to send kittens to their deaths this badly she should just have her own already! It's bad enough Kira and Riu are back to sleeping in Gaara's room again, but at this rate I just might have to force the council to give those two their own apartment somewhere far away from innocent kittens. Maybe then I'll finally be able to relax about someone's children, even if they aren't mine.

Just as I prepare to make Riu understand how quickly being bitten by a snake can kill something as small as a kitten, a miniature sandstorm tears down the street towards us. As it gets closer and screeches to a halt, I realize it is actually Kamatari. Judging from how hard he's gasping for breath, he must have run all the way from Konoha to get here. After catching his breath, Kamatari scowls at Riu and Kira. "You still haven't kicked these two out yet? It's bad enough you're letting the cat who clawed your face stay here, but having the daughter of a supposed tyrant around can't be good." Riu bristled slightly at Kamatari's comment and lashes her tail back and forth a few times. Before she can retort, Kamatari blurts out his reason for coming. "How am I supposed to explain what happened in Konoha with those two just standing there?"

I've almost never seen Kamatari this upset. Sure I know he has a bad opinion of Kira since she apparently smells like a snake that slithered in ashes for a few years to him, but he's usually not so vocal about that when we're not alone. Riu completely ignores Kamatari's apparent urgency and unsheathes her claws. "For your information, weasel, I was defending my friend. As for why we're living here, certain people seem to have forgotten to keep from acting like love sick lunatics." Riu glares at Kira for a moment while Kira just pretends not to hear her. "Besides, it's none of your business where we live." Both Riu and Kamatari have slowly shifted into wary fighting stances by now.

Apparently Kira is as keen to avoid a fight between Kamatari and Riu as I am. With their high speed techniques, those two could cause quite a bit of chaos. Kira casually bends down to Riu's level. "Two words: training time." Riu's flicks her head towards the sun before sprinting off to teach the kittens their lesson for the day. Kira lightly shakes her head, bewildered. "Since when did discussing policies with a guy make me interested him in _that_ way. Does it look like I want to risk passing my father's chakra to any children? That's not to say he's not attractive, but…" Kira's mouth slams shut as she realizes what she just said. I already knew that Kira and Gaara had been discussing policy changes they'd like to implement in the village, but it looks like Kira has other things on her mind too. Judging from the way she's crouching a bit know, she probably thinks I'll knock her head off. I'll save that for any time she crosses the line. I'd better have a talk with Gaara when he gets home now. After a drawn out silence, Kira rapidly changes topic. "Riu and I will move out as soon as the council finally agrees that I fulfilled my contract. It's not my fault Sasori injected Takeo. Besides, the invasion was technically over." Deciding to quit before she mentions any more touchy topics, Kira mutters a completely unbelievable excuse about going to investigate where she apparently saw a rattlesnake yesterday before making a hasty retreat.

Kamatari shakes his head in disbelief. "And here I thought Sasori was bad and concealing his emotions." Kamatari smirks before he realizes I am in no mood for jokes. He cocks his head to one side before asking if I had seen Kankuro recently. After I shake my head, Kamatari mutters a stream of curses under his breath. With a slightly quivering voice, he explains himself. "The Uchiha boy got away, but it has been confirmed that all of Orochimaru's lackeys were killed. Some of the Konoha shinobi are in the hospital right now, but things could be worse. The problem is we haven't seen Kankuro since he went to claim the bounty on the man, maybe it counts as two men in this case, that he killed." Kamatari holds up a paw to keep me from interrupting. "Anyway, Gaara is looking for him with what little chakra he has left. Temari and the lazy kid from the chunin exams wanted to make sure Kankuro didn't come back here before starting a full investigation." Kamatari rolls his eyes. "Just to warn you, I think Temari likes that guy. I don't know if I'd call it a crush or not, but he sure does make her smile a lot more than usual." Great, now I have one kid crushing on someone, one kid being crushed on, and one who is nowhere to be found. Kamatari readies a teleportation jutsu and we're rocketing off to Konoha almost before I can blink.

After the side effect of a noise like roaring wind fades from my ears, I find myself in the middle of a small room nearly filled with various diagrams. The young man sitting next to Temari noticeably tenses up as soon as he sees me. I can't blame him for that seeing as he's barely two feet from my daughter. After introducing himself, Shikamaru explains that no traces of Kankuro have been found yet. Pointing out a few areas on a map, he explains that he is most likely near the area where Gaara had apparently fought the Kaguya who had been with Orochimaru when Takeo was betrayed. Most of the other areas on the map had already been searched by Gaara and a few people who had tried to find either Kankuro or that apparently very sought after Uchiha. With no other leads to follow, Kamatari, Temari, and I set out while Shikamaru remains behind to continue mapping out the search.

After a while, we eventually find the site of the battle. It's kind of hard to miss an area with giant bone spikes sticking out everywhere. Gaara quickly finds us. He managed to find a hint of Kankuro's chakra in the bony maze, but he doesn't have enough chakra back yet to clear the area. With an exhausted sigh, Kamatari carves a path out for us using his scythe. He eventually finds the end of the trail near the center of the area where many of the bones had already been cleared to make room for something. We find a sealed letter sitting in the middle of the clearing. Inside is a farewell letter written by my oldest son. It doesn't take me long to regret reading it out loud. It basically says that Kankuro had left to find Sasori, who he knew would appreciate him. He doesn't explicitly say why he felt unappreciated, but it is heavily implied. It is clear from Temari's outraged expression that she blamed me. Gaara's downcast eyes and the tears in his eyes threatening to fall like his sister's are now tell me that he's putting the blame on himself. After finding that letter, the emergency signal puppet Sasori had given me years ago, and a small piece of white clay all within a few feet of each other, one thing is terribly clear: Kankuro has no intention of coming back. He has left to join Sasori for the rest of his life all because he feels I neglected him and his sister in order to take care of Gaara. The worst part is it feels like he's right.


	33. Devastation

It's safe to say almost everything has gone down hill since Kankuro left. Temari barely ever talks to anyone anymore and spends most of her spare time training alone. Gaara has been somewhat depressed. I rarely see him except when he comes home from missions. When he is home, he usually locks himself in his room. On top of that, that council member who had been sick finally kicked the bucket. The council won't be able to do much until his seat is filled. Though that should keep them from messing with us, it also means Kira will be stuck with us for a while longer. It's a miracle that I can even get her to leave the house at all now.

Temari and Gaara just came home a few hours ago after yet another mission. Kankuro's place on the team is still empty, so they can't complete missions as easily as they used too. All the same, those two need any distractions they can get. The night before he left to go on the mission with Temari, I saw Gaara by Takeo's grave. He lit a few sticks of incense before kneeling down and praying for about half an hour. After that, he just got up and left. I'm not sure why Gaara decided to do that, but he has been seeming even more introverted than usual lately. At least he's coping nicely. I can't say it'll stay that way once Kankuro is replaced, but I don't think I could handle too much more stress right now.

I stopped having nightmares about Takeo a little while ago, but now Kankuro ends up in my nightmares all the time. Though the scorpion filled nightmares aren't nearly as graphic as the snake ones used to be, they have a way of making me an insomniac. Tonight is no different; I just woke up from a nightmare involving a dozen scorpions crawling down my throat as a tried to scream a few minutes ago. It's not too horribly late yet, so maybe I'll be able to sleep once I calm down a bit. Maybe a little light reading with soothe my nerves.

I get within a few feet of the bookcase before an animalistic howl of pain tears through the once peaceful night air. Before I even have time to think, I find myself tearing down the hallway to Gaara's room. After slamming open the thankfully unlocked door, I almost let out a scream of my own. Gaara is slouched against the wall with half of his body transformed into Shukaku as thick red lines spiral their way across his body. A bloody pulp which I'm assuming was the assailant lies at his feet with pieces of a shattered ANBU mask scattered around it. Kira and Riu are panting heavily near a pile of snake corpses as they try to examine each other wounds. In the center of the room, Neko and two of her kittens stand above a bloody body filled with puncture wounds. As the defeated creature raises its head, I recognize that it is Iwao. A deep gash in his chest still oozing blood makes it clear he is done for. After a bloody cough, he snarls directly at Satetsu, "You are nothing but pathetic, cowardly trash." His eyes still glitter with malice as the light leaves them.

As Neko crumbles down in a fit of agonized wailing with her remaining kittens standing speechless beside her, Kira and I both begin dragging ourselves towards Gaara. I don't know if he sees me yet, but he sure as heck sees Kira. With a fearful snarl, he lets lose a horrifyingly high pitched and panicked warning. "Get back!" He attempts to swat Kira aside with his transformed arm. Kira grits her teeth as she manages to keep herself from skidding back too far. She grips Gaara's hand tightly with a fierce look in her eyes. This girl just has no idea when to quit. Gaara moans quietly as his human hand carefully rubs his temples in a feeble attempt to alleviate a headache. He manages to whisper another comment even though he is nearly paralyzed by his pain. "I don't want to hurt you."

It is clear those two won't be backing down any time soon, but I should at least be able to get Gaara to Chiyo so she can fix whatever that ANBU member did to him. Gaara nearly jumps after I carefully lay my hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Chiyo can fix this. It's going to be okay." Gaara doesn't seem to believe me, but he still manages to get away from the wall. It is clear from the way he is trying to balance himself that he's going to need some help getting to Chiyo. Shukaku must really be putting up a fight this time.

I work myself over to Gaara's unaffected side and let him wrap his arm around my shoulder for support. A few moments later, I can feel Gaara's other side being lifted as well. Gaara looks down at Kira, bristling with annoyance. Her knees are practically buckling as she struggles to keep Gaara's transformed side up. He meets Gaara's eyes without any intention of backing down. "I'm not leaving you even if it kills me. Unless you want me to die of exhaustion from lifting this mess," She lifts Gaara's sand covered arm a little higher, "I suggest we get moving." Gaara rolls his eyes before starting his long limping filled journey to see Chiyo.


	34. On Thin Ice

After what seems like hours Kira and I finally manage to haul Gaara over to Chiyo's house. By the time I explain the whole situation to Chiyo, Gaara has nearly passed out. His eyes are squeezed shut and he can barely move without moaning. I don't know what that ANBU member did to him, but I'm surprised that Gaara's seal is still holding up at this rate. Though the sand covering half of Gaara's body hasn't moved much, the red marks have spread to the point where I can barely see any areas where they haven't reached yet.

Chiyo directs us into a small room which I'm assuming used to belong to Sasori judging from all of the various weapons scattered near a workbench. Even though she is now covered in sweat and gasping for breath, Kira still manages to lower Gaara only the cot that's against the far wall. Before she can do or say anything else, Chiyo literally drags Kira out of the room. I know that Chiyo's going to need some peace and quiet while she works, so I don't have long before I have to leave Gaara. I carefully bend down to hold his hand for a moment. I can barely even look at him without my eyes filling with tears now; if I even try to speak I think I won't be able to do much more than sob. Gaara opens his eyes just a little when he feels my hand around his. "I'll be fine," he hoarsely whispers before giving me a shaky smile. I try to smile back for Gaara's sake. I'd better get out of here before I get any more emotional. The last thing Gaara needs right now is to worry about me.

After I exit the room, Chiyo stops me. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave for a while. I won't be able to concentrate on fixing that seal if I can hear you crying while I'm working." Chiyo puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder in an attempt to keep me calm. "I know you want to help Gaara as much as you can, but I'm afraid there's nothing you can do here right now. Perhaps you and Kira could try and figure out why that man was sent here. That could help you stop worrying so much." Just looking at Chiyo makes me understand that she's silently asking for me to get Kira as far away from her as possible. It takes about two minutes after Chiyo locks herself in with Gaara to start the operation before I spot Kira with her ear pressed against the wall. "I said get out of here you crazy girl!" Kira leaps away from the wall as Chiyo yells at her and smacks something into the wall to emphasize her point. I can't resist chuckling a little as Kira sulks off with one hand rubbing her now sore ear. As much as I hate leaving Gaara, something tells me the daimyo needs to learn a lesson. It wouldn't kill me to have someone like Kira to shield me just in case things get ugly. I lead Kira towards the outskirts of the village before summoning Kamatari.

Kamatari can't stop himself from bearing his teeth at Kira even after I explain why we're bringing her. "Why are we bringing this untrustworthy girl for back up? We all know what happened to the last person to do that." Well that's just great, now he's dragging Takeo into this. What's next, Kankuro leaving the village and Sasori not showing up when we need him? "I can understand that we need help, but I don't think we need a drooling fangirl of questionable origins trailing us."

Kira lets out an exasperated sigh. "If I'm such a fangirl, why would I not want to help Gaara? He's the only person in this entire rotten village that doesn't treat me like the plague unless you count the cats. As for Takeo, he almost ripped my hands off. No offense, but anyone crazy enough to join forces with Orochimaru kind of does deserve to die." How is that not offensive? Before I can start unloading my anger on Kira, she resumes what I'm guessing will be a long speech. "I don't even know why I bothered coming here. The two men who could have helped me proved to be untrustworthy; Takeo was a lunatic and Sasori raped some woman he had been chasing for years before deserting her with their son who by the way has probably contemplated suicide judging by how poorly everyone treats him. I can't imagine why I'm surprised." Kira rolls up her right sleeve a few inches to reveal a dark red, softly glowing seal. "It's not like I was every treated well either."

Kira finally stops talking even though her whole body seems to be shaking with anger. Kamatari cautiously sniffs her arm for a moment before recoiling in horror. "So you do have something to do with that creature who has been helping the snakes!" Kamatari examines the seal for a moment before sighing with relief. "At least that seal only seems to be reacting to some traces of that thing's chakra. Come to think of it, this seal seems a bit like what Karura said the ANBU put on Gaara." Kira nods. Kamatari's fur bristles up, but he takes a few deep breaths to keep himself from slicing Kira into a million pieces. "You have to get out of here soon you know. The last thing we need is for someone to die just because you decided to run here. I'll take you to the daimyo, but you have to swear that you'll get out of this village within the next week. That seems like plenty of time to get your things in order." Kira quietly agrees. As Kamatari prepares to transport the two of us, I can't tell whether she looks more relieved or terrified. Personally, I just hope that Gaara isn't killed by whatever's going on here. If I find out that Kira's father was the one who sent that ANBU and Chiyo can't fix Gaara's seal, I swear that Kira is going to pray that her father had killed her before she ever even considered bringing this horrible mess anywhere near my family.


	35. Misconceptions

As soon as Kamatari, Kira, and I arrive at the daimyo's mansion, it's clear that something has gone wrong. There are technically still guards there, but they must have died at least a few hours ago. Even though some scavengers appear to have snacked on their corpses, I can still guess how they died. It's just hard to tell if they were cooked alive or died from blood loss since at least some of the bite marks on the bodies are way too big to be caused by a hungry jackal. Kamatari practically shoves Kira through the door before the smell of decay can paralyze the three of us. At least whatever caused this mess should be long gone by now.

Kamatari keeps his scythe against Kira's legs to keep her ahead of us and to make sure she doesn't try to run away. I doubt she has the nerve to try and leave us now though. Her hands are trembling so hard that she has to fumble with the door to the daimyo's quarters for about a minute before she can get a good grip on it. She looks over her shoulder before shakily smiling at us. "You will help me is he is in there right? Even you wouldn't want to see me get beaten to death." I can't say I agree with Kira's last statement at the moment and it is clear that Kamatari agrees with me. He bares his fangs at Kira for a moment before nodding at the door. "Thanks for your support." Kira's voice drips with sarcasm as she twists the doorknob with her sweaty, shaking hand. Moments later, the three of us enter the scene of what can only be described as a bloodbath.

It's hard to believe that this room used to be even remotely luxurious. Most of the fabric in here is either burnt or bloodstained now. Almost everything else has been shredded. The only thing that remains intact is the daimyo's golden chair and even that has been knocked over. Cowering behind it is the daimyo himself. He looks like karma finally paid him back for making my husband miserable and my home a laughing stock. All the same, it does feel a bit odd to see such a powerful political figure humbled like this. The daimyo would have made a sorry sight even if I only looked at his robes; those things look more like a beggar's filthy rags now. As for his injuries, he'll live. The daimyo's once thick and elegant robes seem to have stifled the bleeding coming from his chest a while ago judging from all of the blood encrusting his upper body. I don't think he'll be able to smirk at me too easily now though since at least one of his teeth is missing and a long red gash snaking down his jaw will probably make any sort of facial insults painful for the time being. When the daimyo finally addresses us, his voice sounds as beaten and broken as his body looks. "If you're going to kill me, do it now. The people who I thought would protect me for the rest of my life either died a few hours ago or ran off under the orders of a monster."

Kamatari cautiously inches towards the daimyo and inspects his injuries. "How did this happen? No human could have possibly done this." Kamatari glares at a still shell shocked Kira before muttering his diagnosis. "I only know one person who has any chakra like this, but she was with Karura and her family when this mess would have happened."

Kira seems to shrink as the daimyo slowly looks her over. "So that demon really was after you. He sent my best ANBU guard member after you. If you're here, something must have prevented that creature's desires from being fulfilled." The daimyo manages a weak smile until he notices that Kira won't meet his eyes. "You are okay aren't you? I know that monster wanted to kill you with some of his chakra. I saw him infuse some of his chakra into a seal before he ordered my last guard off. He told him to 'use the seal on the demon living in Suna' so that he could get back at someone who had escaped him."

With wording like that, it's easy to imagine what happened. Kira starts backing away from me, but it only takes me a moment to grab her by the wrist. As I drag her to within a few inches of my face, I can see a bruise already forming on her wrist. "Let me get this straight, my son might die just because you pissed off your father?" Kira nods. Before she can even try apologizing, my fist is already crashing into her gut. "That's for tricking us." I slap her hard across her face. "That's for tearing my family apart." Finally, I punch her so hard with one of my wind scythe jutsu that I can hear her ribs cracking as she slams into the ground. "And that was for making my son think he finally had found a friend he could trust you traitorous, sneaky, selfish bitch!" Even Kamatari flinched at that last part. The daimyo almost looks like he might pee himself if I get anywhere near him now.

Kira manages to lift herself carefully back onto her feet after letting a few curse words slip on her way up. Her face is contorted into a snarling mask of anger not unlike the expression Takeo had worn he found out that he was not Gaara's father. Before she can start yelling back at me, the daimyo interrupts our little confrontation. "But that thing isn't even close to human! How could you be related?" Kira shoots one last glare at me before she turns to the daimyo and shows him her seal.

"He gave me this. I never knew my real father, so calling him that just made things easier to explain. I tried to track down my real father not long after I ran away, but the couple who had taken Riu and I in died when I tried to go to where I had heard my father had lived after we were ambushed by some of my father's underlings." Kira takes a shaky breath and wipes a tear away before continuing. This girl is just full of sob stories isn't she? "I could never live in Konoha without that demon finding me, so I came to Suna. Since I had heard that its demon host was treated like a life threatening contagious disease, I didn't think anyone would even consider looking for me there since anyone who learned my secret would probably treat me the same way. Most of the people in Suna hate me anyway." Kira glances at me. "At least one person seems to enjoy me presence though. I just wish hope he'll stop being so dense about how I feel about him once he wakes up." Kira can't keep the hopeful gleam out of her eyes, but she's trying very hard to look pitiable. I sure know it'll take more than one little speech to make me trust this girl again.

The daimyo can't avoid laughing at Kira for a moment before the look in her eyes makes him reconsider her story. "And here I honestly thought the council's theory about Shukaku's host putting you under a genjutsu was true. You really must be desperate!"

Kira manages to keep the rest of her dignity in tact for all of maybe five seconds. "Now if you could just get Gaara's overly violent mother and absent father to approve of me, my life might get better." Kira laughs nervously for a moment before I threateningly crack my knuckles to shut her up. Then she finally gets worried. "You aren't going to throw me in the dungeon are you?"

The daimyo snorts before thinking for a moment. "For one thing, I don't have any dungeons to throw you in. For another, I could use all of the information about that demon I can get. I think I have a lot to discuss with you." The daimyo turns to Kamatari and I with just a glimmer of remorse hiding in his falsely condescending voice. "Kamatari, you had better drop Karura off so she can check on her son. I'll need you here when you are done, but I don't think Karura needs or wants to hear what we have to discuss."

As Kamatari leads me back outside and prepares to take me back to Chiyo and Gaara, I can't stop thinking about how the daimyo talked to me. He seems to have been humbled at least a little by his beating. For once, he even managed to call Gaara my son instead of a demon, a monster, or anything like that. When Kamatari asks if I think it is wise to allow the daimyo to talk with Kira at length, my answer surprises him. "I think we won't have to worry about the daimyo for now." After all, he's not the one who sent that ANBU nor is he in any condition to mess with my family.


End file.
